Sorcery Illusions
by Fantasy Dragon
Summary: A new threat, new allies. When least likely person shows up, and things all go wrong at once, what's a sorcerer to do? Sequel to Magical Secrets. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 1: Broken Wings

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Language, mild yoai, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: This is the sequel to my story Magical Secrets which can also be found here on fanfiction.net. More than likely, if you have not read that one, this one won't make sense. I highly suggest that you read that one first. If you have read Magical Secrets, I hope you enjoy this one as much as everyone seemed to enjoy that one!

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Squall Leonheart sat at the large mahogany desk in his office, wanting only a moments peace. Cid had already paid him 3 visits this morning, Laguna had called him and his new secretary, and Lorinea had been continuously pestering him for a report that was due in Trabia in 3 weeks. If he had one more pointless interruption, Squall knew he'd flip.

No sooner had Squall even thought this and got out a new report to work on, then there was a knock on the door. Holding back the urge to scream, Squall took a deep breath and called for the person to enter.

"S…s…sorry for the in…in…interruption, Sir." A young man stuttered, saluting. Squall recognized him as Jayson McKenzey; a recently graduated SeeD assigned to Garden security.

"At ease. What is it that you are here to tell me?" Squall asked, noticing the nervous aura that surrounded the younger boy.

"There h…h…has been an intruder caught on G…g…garden premises, sir." The boy finally got out.

Squall slowly ran a finger down his old scar, in an irritated way. What did it concern him if there was an intruder?

"Have they been taken into custody?" Squall assumed that Jayson was looking for some sort of recognition and praise on his capture. But that was not about to happen.

"Yes, sir. But that was not the reason why I was sent up here." Jayson was not quite as uneasy, but lacked confidence in the presence of his High Commander.

"So why have you been sent?" Squall was now being pushed beyond his limits.

"Sir, the prisoner asked to see you. The requested you by name." Jayson finally blurted out.

"By name?" Squall repeated, unsure that he had heard the ebony hared boy properly.

" Yes, they demanded to see "Squall." " Jayson took a step backwards as he saw the commander stand up, a little of each emotion playing in his stormy gray eyes. 

"What cell are they being held in?" Squall questioned, calmly. He knew that anyone who asked for him by name was more than likely no match for him.

"138H, sir." Now that they were nearing the end of their conversation, Jayson finally seemed to become a little more confident. 

"Thank you. You are dismissed." Replied Squall, mentally noting the number of the holding cell. Jayson walked out of the office and Squall sat down with a heavy sigh. Trying to figure out who it would be asking for him by name, Squall realized it was harder than he thought. All of the people who referred to him as Squall were either already here in Garden, or over in Esthar with complete access to Garden. 

Unsure if he should feel scared or safe, Squall did the best thing he could to arm himself against a possible attack without raising suspicion. Reaching up around his neck, Squall removed the one thing stopping him from absolute power. The surge of magical energy quickly making its way through the sorcerer's body was a welcome feeling. Although his three guardians were permanently around now, Squall still preferred to keep his pendent on whenever possible as to not raise questions.

Pushing away from the wooden desk, the sorcerer almost glided across the room in slow but sure steps. The silence outside his office was like a harsh winters storm. Natural but at the same time unexpected. Stepping into the elevator, the thought of who it was asking for him in the cell once again crossed his mind. When the elevator let him off onto the first floor after an uneventful ride, Squall immediately made for the entrance, but was stopped at the directory but an all too familiar face. 

"Something important come up?" the elegant blonde asked a knowing look on her face.

Squall sighed. "Good morning Quistis." He said with no enthusiasm what so ever. He focused on the floor, hoping that the blue mage would not notice his eyes.

"You can't floor me, Squall. Remember? I know when you have removed you pendent." Quistis said, leaning up against the directory.

"Do you have to be there every step I take thought?" grumbled Squall.

"Well, if you would either allow me to go on missions or teach again, I'd have something to occupy my time other than training and making sure you aren't dead."

"I've told you before. I put you, Evan and Seifer all on a one-year break. No work until that year is over. You've only got three months to go." Squall was beginning to grow impatient with his one time instructor, so he started to walk to where he had been heading in the first place.

"So why did you remove Griever?" Quistis asked, falling into step beside the young sorcerer. 

"Something that requires me too. I'm sorry Quistis, but it is my business. It has nothing to do with you. Now if you could just let me go." Squall glared, then began to speed us as to lose the blonde.

"Squall, I'd feel so much better if you at least let me go with you. You've got to be worried if it was enough for you to take Griever off." Squall stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the girl with a glare. "And don't even think of telling me that it is none of my business, because as soon as that chain leaves you neck, it is."

Squall looked at her one last time and saw the determination on her face and sighed. This girl just wasn't going to give up.

"Fine. But you are not to interfere or even say anything. This is my business." Ordered Squall. Quistis smiled and nodded before Squall turned and began to walk away. She quickly fell into step beside the sorcerer, wondering where in Hyne's name he was heading. They passed the front gate and took a sharp left, coming to a huge set of security doors. Taking a deep breath, Squall placed his hand on the scanning pan.

"Leonheart, Commander S." The mechanical voice said and the doors slid open, allowing Squall access, but closing before Quistis could make it in. Quistis repeated Squall's actions and after it said ' Trepe, SeeD Q.' she followed the brunet into the restricted area.

"Commander Leonheart, sir." Quistis heard the head of Garden security, Pamora Renyard say as she rounded the corner and saw her saluting.

"At ease. Where was the intruder found?" Squall was having a hard time trying to disguise his now deeper voice and at the same time not allow anyone to see his eyes.

"Just outside the Quad. They seemed to know a lot about Garden security procedures." Pamora said, looking at her clipboard.

"Did they surrender any identification?" Squall continued to question in a calm fashion, but Quistis was becoming more and more uneasy with each passing second. Slowly she began to grasp the handle of her whip, an instinct telling her that she would need it soon.

"No. She only said that it was completely unfair that we were holding her captive and that that she urgently needed to see you." Pamora was a little more than confuse in what had happened in her department in the last hour, but hoped that the way she had handled the situation and hopefully her SeeD level would go up. She definitely could use the extra gil. 

"She?" Quistis and Squall said in unison. Squall then quickly rushed out towards the holding cells, Quistis close behind him. Her whip was now fully out, ready to strike any opponent down with the flick of her wrist.

"What cell?" Quistis asked as she followed Squall through the normal security.

"138H." were the only Squall said, more worried about who it was in the cell.

"H? Who would the catch be around here that would need high security?" Quistis wonder out loud as they finally as they finally made it to the end of the normal security calls. This time, Squall didn't answer, but he didn't hesitate pressing his hand up to the palm scanner. As soon as it acknowledged him, the sorcerer pulled the blue mage through the door as not to waste time.

Halfway down the new corridor, the pair could see two SeeDs standing outside a cell. As soon as they saw their high commander approaching, both saluted and stepped to the side, seeing his rush.

"At ease." Grumbled Squall as he opened the door, Quistis almost directly on his heals.

"Finally. I thought I was going to have to cause a little more commotion to get you down here." A voice chuckled from the corner of the cell.

"Raven?" Squall and Quistis asked together, a little confused.

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To Be Continued……..

I'm back! I promised a sequel to Magical Secrets and here it is. I also got out the Review prize for cid dante, called A Pianist's Tears. Everyone is welcome to read that. Anyway, I hope that there is a response to this story somewhat like Magical Secrets. If it is, I'll be so happy. I've been told that I am a review whore, but I like to know what my readers think. Well, I be out. Love and cookies for all. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 2: Unwelcome Surprise

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Language, mild yoai, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: This is the sequel to my story Magical Secrets which can also be found here on fanfiction.net. More than likely, if you have not read that one, this one won't make sense. I highly suggest that you read that one first. If you have read Magical Secrets, I hope you enjoy this one as much as everyone seemed to enjoy that one!

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"Do you really think that all these security measures are necessary?" Raven asked, casually leaning up against the gray walls of the cell. She was not impressed at all with everything that was going on here.

"I would like to say no, but you give me a reason to worry." Squall replied.

"Why are you here any way?" Quistis demanded, not putting her whip away. Se still didn't trust Raven for what she was put through by the girl in front of her nine months ago. "You're not welcome in our Garden.

"I have information about Ayana's location, as well as what she's up to." Raven said this with a glare towards Quistis. "I figured that you guys would be interested in that shit."

"Why are you so quick to change sides, Raven? How do we know you aren't just going to report everything discussed here to your mother?" Squall questioned, watching every move that Raven made.

Raven cringed as Squall used that term to describe Ayana. 

"Listen, pretty boy." Raven got right in Squall's face to day this. "I haven't called that bitch that word in seven years. That's when she abandoned me and Crowe at Galbadia Garden to go off that asshole she was with. Then she goes and kills her own son. I need to avenge the death of both Crown and Falcon. I hate that whore with every living cell in my body. I want her dead." Raven then walked away from the 2 and over to the small window that was the only light source in the room. With her hair up and the backless shirt she wore, it gave both Squall and Quistis a perfect view of the black wing tattoos that she wore on each shoulder blade. "Plus, I think that it's time that I take these broken wings of mine and try and fly again."

"You are going to help us track her down and foil her plans? Just like that?" Quistis was still skeptical. She had already seen how quickly Raven could switch to the winning side.

"Quistis, be quiet." Squall scolded, ten turned to Raven as the black hared girl came back over to them from under the window. "I will not allow you speak down here with no witnesses, Raven. There are no sound recorders. I require that you come to my office." Squall said, then walked over and made sure that the handcuffs around Raven's wrists were secure in front of her stomach. "Quistis, go make sure that the private elevator is running to my office and that there is no one there. I have to go get Pamora to let Raven out on a temporary leave, and to make sure the cameras in my office have sound in them." 

"But Squall…" started Quistis, but the sorcerer cut her off.

"I'll be fine." Squall was getting fed up with the blue mage, but knew at the same time that he had not seen Raven go from friendly to murderous to innocent in the span of a few days. Quistis started to protest again, but Squall stopped her. "That wasn't a request. That was an order from your high commander, as well as your sorcerer. Go."

Knowing that she argue anymore, the blonde figured that if worse comes to worse, and Raven did go berserk and try to kill Squall, he was a sorcerer and he could probably paralyze her if he needed to. Plus the fact that there were 15 000 SeeDs and SeeD candidates walking around the building helped ease her nerves a bit. But even as she walked up to the private elevator, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about leaving her sorcerer in the presence of that psycho bitch. Stepping in as to press in the private code to the top office, Quistis was surprised when the doors slid shut, incasing her in the steel box.

When the elevator jumped to life, Quistis realized that someone must have been calling the elevator from somewhere else. Choosing just to wait it out, Quistis leaned up against the cool metal of the box and close her eyes. As suddenly as it had started, the elevator lurched to a halt and the doors slid open to reveal Squall's office, but there was no one there.

"Hello?" Quistis asked, walking out into the office.

"What the hell? Where are you coming from, Trepe?" the unmistakable voice of Seifer came from the doorway.

"The holding cells. We've got a little problem." She sighed as her former student came over to where she stood in front of the elevator.

"Yeah. Evan said that he had some important information to tell Squall and dragged me up here with him. Then when we were waiting for the elevator, he cursed and ran off. I was gonna go after him, but then you showed up." Seifer shrugged, then sat down into one of the comfy leather chairs Squall had decorated his office with. Hearing the elevator begin to descend, Quistis chose to ignore it and sat down across from Seifer.

"That's not what I mean. Anyways, Squall took Griever off." Sighed Quistis.

"I figured. Evan started to freak out this morning, saying it wasn't safe and a few other random things. My personal favorite being that all orange chocobos wear green stripped underwear." Seifer chuckled, placing his booted feet into the table that separated the two blondes.

"I take it that the therapy still isn't working very well?" questioned Quistis, generally concerned about the redhead.

"Some days he seems normal, others he's still skittish. The worst is when his random freaking outness happens at fuckin' 2 am." Grumbled the knight. Quistis couldn't help but giggle at this. As different as Seifer and Evan were as people, as a couple, they were a perfect match for one another. 

The elevator dinged one more time and as the doors slid open, Seifer saw Squall and the one person he truly hated follow him out into the office.

"What the fuck?" Seifer asked loudly, glaring at Raven.

"Raven apparently has information regarding Ayana's plans and whereabouts." Squall answered the question that Seifer was silently asking. "Her information will be recorded and she is going to stay in Garden's hands until we find the information reliable or not." 

"This girl is a lying, scheming, psycho! You really think that she is going to give you legit info? Squall, I think you fucking lost it!" Seifer exclaimed, jumping up and just about knocking over the table.

"And that is why I plan to assign the 2 of you to watch over her while she is here in Garden custody." Squall said, then sat down at his desk, and motioned for the handcuffed Raven to sit in front of his desk.

"Excuse me!?" Quistis snapped her head around saying this, at the same time as Seifer said, "You're fuckin' kidding me."

"You were telling me this morning, Quistis that you were bored. Think of this as a mandatory mission not leaving the Garden." Squall turned his still emerald eyes at the instructor.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Quistis replied.

"And I already have my hands full making sure you breath everyday, and on top of that I have to read all those god forsaken books to be a SeeD for once and for all." Seifer argued. "Why do I have to do it anyway?"

"I would have assigned both my blue mages to do the job, but it seems that one happens to be a little mentally unstable right now." Squall answered this as nonchalantly as everything else he said or did did.

"True. But still…" Seifer continued.

"Listen, not only am I your sorcerer, but I am your high commander. If you hope to get your SeeD at the end of this year, you will be okay with it. Both of you." Squall glared.

"But I'm already SeeD!" Quistis interjected.

"I can lower your level, completely revoke you teaching license, or remove your SeeDship just like that." Squall's face told Quistis that the brunet sorcerer was not joking.

"Jackass." Mumbled and she sat down, along with Seifer was equally as pissed as her.

"It's my decision. The two of you are to watch over and guard Raven while she is here. Now, any more questions?" Squall asked in a stern voice. Neither Seifer nor Quistis said anything, so he continued. "So, Raven. What information do you have concerning Ayana?"

"Well, her new base is in Timber…" Raven was cut off by a loud ruckus outside the office doors.

"Trust me, this IS urgent!" the familiar voice of everyone's favorite fairy was heard.

"Oh, shit. He's found us." Seifer mumbled under his breath with a chuckle as the doors were thrown open.

"Squall! I've got some really…" trailing off as he looked around the room, Evan stopped dead in his tracks and swallowed hard. "Ra…Ra…Raven?"

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To Be Continued….

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, and I hope that this story won't disappoint you. I've got a list of ideas in my head a mile long. And someone asked me if this was a Squall and Raven story, but I've had who I am putting Squall with picked out for a long time. Sorry. Well, I'm out until next time. Love and Cookies. 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 3: Revelations

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Language, mild yoai, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: This is the sequel to my story Magical Secrets which can also be found here on fanfiction.net. More than likely, if you have not read that one, this one won't make sense. I highly suggest that you read that one first. If you have read Magical Secrets, I hope you enjoy this one as much as everyone seemed to enjoy that one!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Not happening, not happening, not happening." Evan said, hyperventilating while freaking out when he saw Raven sitting there in front of Squall's desk. He quickly began to back away from the desk, walking backwards towards Seifer. Before long, he tripped over a chair.

"Shit, Ev." Seifer cursed and walked over to the blue mage. Placing his hands under Evan arms, he lifted the smaller male into a sitting position.

"She's haunting me! She's going to kill me!" exclaimed the redhead.

"Dammit. I hate to cut this short, but I'm taking him down to Dr. K." Seifer grumbled then got Evan to his feet and began to lead him out of the office.

"Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead." Was all Evan was saying now, and as the doors closed behind the 2, Squall turned to the prisoner.

"So, you said that Ayana is in Timber?" The sorcerer said as if it had only been a Chocoscout girl in here a moment ago selling cookies instead of an ally freaking out.

"Sorry about changing the subject, but aren't you going to check on him? That was seriously the weirdest thing I have ever seen." Raven said, crossing her legs.

"After returning from the missile base, Evan Brunnard has been diagnosed with complete tramatization, and as a result from that, he also has a minor case of insanity. He attends therapy 6 times a week." Squall said this as if Evan only had a minor cold.

"Raven, I hate to say this, but this is not the Evan you thought you knew, and frankly, you are not the person he thought you were." Quistis butted in. 

To this, Raven cast her eyes downwards. Proving that she was truly regretful for everything that had happened was going to be a little more difficult than she had first thought.

"Getting back on topic…" Squall made it clear that he was not at all impressed with the number of interruptions that had been occurring.

Raven wasted no time in beginning to tell everything that she had seen in Timber.

"I found Ayana's hideout, it's in Timber through a secret passage in the hotel. She apparently had some connections there. I think that her main goal is to rule over Esthar, possibly the world. She wants to be just like Adel. But that's not all. In her base, I found 2 people dead, but they had scars on the back of their necks like the one Falcon had. That means she will be able to control people again." Raven shook her head, very much ashamed that the evil woman that she hated so much had giving birth to her.

"Go on." Squall said, just as emotionless as ever.

"I also saw a bunch of Garden files. There was no information on the Gardens other than the few files that I found. But they were all student and SeeD files." The dark hared girl continued.

"Who? Quistis, as soon as we are done her, you are to go and pull files on every one of them." Squall said, not missing a beat. Quistis nodded, then Squall urged Raven to continue.

" Seifer Almasy, Evan Brunnard, Zell Dincht, Tasman Doudans, Squall Leonheart, Omri Lowens, Pamora Renyard, Quistis Trepe, Nida Yang, Xu Yoshitaka." Raven repeated, clearly seeing the names in her mind like the day she first read them.

"There are the 4 of us that are the so called 'Neo Hyne' generation. Zell is the Lieutenant Commander; Pamora's head of security; Omri is head of special ops, and Tasman is Balamb's own computer wiz." Quistis replied, not even needed the files. "That's pretty much our most powerful and important people."

"What about Nida Yang and Xu Yoshitaka?" Raven asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Don't you remember them? You shot both of them on your way out of the missile base. 2 of our best SeeDs and 2 of my best friends. There was so much damage done to their bodies that even an elixir would not have healed them at all. Both of them are dead because of you." Quistis glared at the handcuffed girl, wishing that Raven were the one dead instead of her friends.

"Why should I pity you? It's not like you were the only one who lost people you cared for that day." Raven growled. "I lost the only 2 I've had. Do you that Ayana was sorry that she killed Falcon? Or Crowe? I don't think so. So why should I be sorry that you lost 2 of the many friends and family that you have?" 

"It's all to easy to see what blood runs through your veins." Quistis said this full of hate and spite.

"Silence!" Squall exclaimed, quickly calling the spell over the two girls. Before the 2 realized what had happened, they both found themselves unable to speak. With no way to verbally bitch at each other, the Raven and Quistis did the next best thing. Millions of invisible daggers flew from the eyes of both girls, as they stood up for better glaring grounds.

"Now unless you want me to cast blind on both of you as well, you will sit down, shut up, look at me and listen to what I have to say. We all have attained SeeDship at one point in time or another, so I expect you both to tolerate one another and act professional towards one another. No more of this bull shit fighting. Yes, Raven did kill Xu and Nida, but they knew going into the mission, it was dangerous. Raven, I also understand what you are saying about the loss of Falcon and Crowe. But at the same time, we are all adults, so you two had better start acting like it." Squall spoke in his famed 'high Commander' voice, so with out having to be asked a second time, both Raven and Quistis sat down to listen to what Squall had to say.

"So, are you going to be quiet now, both of you? Because I have all the spells I need to silence or blind you at any given time." Continued Squall, his cold-hearted attitude still the same as ever.

Quistis reluctantly nodded her head, not knowing whether or not Raven was agreeing or not. When Squall said nothing, but just waved a hand in the air, casting and esuna spell over them, Quistis knew that the black hared girl must have also agreed.

"So you'd like me to pull all those files once this meeting has adjourned?" Quistis asked, trying to pretend that the last conversation had never happened. 

"Yes. So, Raven, why do you think that Ayana has pinned those people, but had no information on Garden?" Squall asked, turning to Raven.

"Yeah. I thought that was weird. It also struck me that she had no information on Trabia or Galbadia. All the names were from Balamb." Raven added.

"Quistis, get a hold of Selphie and Irvine and get them on the defense just in case." Said Squall.

"What about Galbadia Garden? Who would you like to get a hold of from there?" Quistis asked, making a mental note of everything that Squall had asked her to do.

Squall didn't answered right a way, causing an awkward silence between the two girls. Finally, the sorcerer broke the silence, startling both with his answer.

"No one." He finally said.

"Are you nuts?" Quistis exclaimed. "Galbadia has more SeeDs, more technology. We are completely screwed if they attack us again." 

"And I know that Garden like the back of my hand. I grew up there. There are so many more things that you can take over with that Garden compared to this one or Trabia." Raven butted in.

"But if you were going to take over a Garden, wouldn't you think that she would take over Galbadia? If she was bent on taking over Esthar, Ayana would try and take over the most powerful and most useful." Squall reasoned.

"Are you kidding? If she takes over Galbadia and attacks us, we don't even stand a chance. We wouldn't even have time to change into mobilization mode." Quistis knew that she should be respecting Squall's orders, but there was something inside her that just didn't agree with the sorcerer. 

A thought hit Raven. "But she's not after Garden. Ayana is set on taking over Esthar. She wants the son of Esthar's president." She voiced her realization.

When Raven said this, Quistis' head turned to face the brunet sorcerer. Squall nodded, agreeing with Raven completely.

"As long as I'm not in Garden, there is no chance of her coming here." 

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Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but school has been demanding recently. I hope everyone is liking this story, cause there are going to be some major twists coming up soon, but I will never tell what they are! You'll just have to wait and read on what is going to happen. And yes, the hate between Quistis and Raven will go. Well, until next time, love and cookies!


	4. Chapter 4

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 4: Breaking Down

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Language, mild yoai, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quistis was in the registration office pulling the files that Squall had asked her to get. There was just something about Squall's theory of Ayana taking over Galbadia Garden while all the SeeDs that she had files on were her at Balamb Garden. So while Quistis was sent here to pick up the file that Squall had asked her for, Seifer was stuck watching over Raven.

"Stupid Squall. Assigning such a stupid mission to a high level SeeD instructor." Grumbled the blue mage as she pulled her own file off the shelf and read 'Trepe, Q.N. -Level 29 - Instructor - Sabbatical'

"What are you mumbling about, Angel?" A voice said, startling Quistis. She jumped, then turned around, lucky that she had not dropped either of the files that she had been holding. As she turned, she came upon the grinning face of none other than Zell.

"You of all people should know not to sneak up on me." She sighed.

"Sorry." Laughed Zell, then gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "So why are you pulling files on…" He stopped to look on the names on the two files in her hands. "You and me?"

"Well, it all starts at about ten this morning. I felt Squall take off his pendent, so I met up with him to ask why. He was on his way somewhere, so I follow him. It turns out that Raven Noire is being held in one of the holding cells and that's where Squall was heading. She was there claiming that she has new information on Ayana and her possible plan. Squall takes her and I up to his office and there was Seifer. Not to bad yet, but then Evan walks in and starts to freak out. After Seifer took him to the infirmary, Raven goes on to tell us that Ayana has a list of Gardens ten most powerful people and she doesn't know why. But this is all after Squall assigns Seifer and I to watch over that bitch while she stays here." Quistis rambled on then turned to Zell as she took a deep breath. "So, how's your morning going?"

"Not as eventful as yours I guess." Zell tried to hide his chuckle, but failed as Quistis pulled out the file on Omri. "So who are the so called 10 most powerful people you were saying she knew of?"

"Squall, Seifer, Evan, Pamora in security, Omri in special ops, Tasman the computer girl, and you and I." Quistis said, pulling out Squall's file as Zell began to open drawers to get files out.

"That's only 8, Angel. You told me she said 10." Zell looked confused as he finally pulled Evans' file out for Quistis.

"The other 2 were Nida and Xu. Pilot and head of defense." Quistis whispered as she put the files that she had gathered onto the registration desk. Zell watched as then Quistis leaned up against the desk, and crossed her arms across her chest. "Fuck. I don't need her around Zell. My complicated enough without that murderous bitch around."

What Zell saw next caused him to do a double take. Quistis' shoulders began to shake as she silently sobbed, the girl's emotions finally winning against her will.

"It's okay. Let it out, Angel." Whispered Zell as e took Quistis into his arms.

"I'm suppose to be stronger than this though." Quistis quickly pulled away and wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"You need a good cry though, baby. You haven't even shed a tear since everything went down. You just need to let it out, Angel." Zell tried to take Quistis back into his arms, but the blue mage refused to go.

"No! I am strong! I'm a SeeD for Hyne's sake! I don't have emotions." Quistis' voice began to die down into a whisper as she allowed the tears to flow down her reddened cheeks.

"But you are also human. It's can't be healthy to hold everything in for this long." Zell tried to reason with his girlfriend, but knew it was not getting through to the blonde mage.

"I don't care. A SeeD is supposed to handle any situation! Show no emotion!" She exclaimed, stamping her foot as to prove a point. "I need…" Quistis then trailed off, seeming to be out of breath.

"You need to sit down and let it go baby. No one is her except you and I, No one is even going to know that it happened." Zell was still trying to reason with his girlfriend, but knew that she alone could more stubborn that himself, Squall and Seifer all put together.

"I need…" Trailing off once again, the blonde put a gloved hand to her forehead, Zell becoming more and more suspicious of his girlfriends every move.

"Are you feeling okay?" Zell asked, taking a small step forward " Zell asked, taking a small step forward, Zell cautiously extended his arms out just in case.

"I…I…" As she stumbled over her words, Quistis began to lean forward from the desk, Zell coming closer and closer to his girlfriend.

"Quistis? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Zell began to panic now, Quistis' face falling paler then ever now.

"Zell…" was the final word that left the blue mages lips as she fell forward into Zell's open arms.

"Quistis?" He asked, looking down into her ashen face. Seeing her eyes closed and feeling that her breathing was slower than normal, the blond martial artist quickly picked the girl up and rushed out of the office area, panicking only on the inside as he made his way down towards the infirmary. 

**********

As she sat up, Quistis groaned and knew that something had to be wrong. The strong smell of potions and remedies evading her senses faster that Leviathan's Tsunami as she took a deep breath.

"How are you feeling, baby?" Zell's voice came from beside her. Quistis pried her eyes open as she sat up and looked over to where Zell's voice came and saw him sitting there beside her bed, his hair a little dishelved, and still in his dress uniform.

"Zell?" She asked, still a little groggy. Looking around, she saw the familiar scenery of the infirmary.

"Right here, Angel." Zell whispered as he took her hand into his and began to rub her knuckled with his fingers.

"What am I doing in the infirmary?" questioned Quistis as she lay back down.

"You passed out in the file room, so I brought you here. Dr. K should be back in a minute to check up on you." Zell said, his hand leaving her hand and beginning to rub up and down her arm with his gloved hand.

"Why did she have to come back?" whispered Quistis as her eyes once again began to fill with tears.

"Don't worry. We'll fix it." Zell spoke softly as he saw that Quistis' eyes were shut.

"Has she woken up yet, Zell dear?" Dr. Kadowaki said as she walked back into the room, carrying a hi-potion and a sleep powder.

"Yeah, I'm awake." Quistis groaned, sitting up again, and Zell took his hand from Quistis' arm, but allowed it to rejoin Quistis' hand.

"So, why did she pass out, Dr. K?" Zell was curious to know the answer.

"Well, it seems as though you had a minor nervous break down. I have a few different options for you to avoid the major one that may come." Dr. Kadowaki than sat down in the other chair, Zell getting a bit antsy.

" You mean this is going to happen again, only worse?" Zell exclaimed, in typical Zell fashion.

"Yes. Quistis, would you like to know your options?" as severe as everything sound, the doctor was able to keep a calm façade on.

"I don't think I have a choice." Grumbled the blonde.

"Not really." The doctor chuckled. "Well, give up SeeD. But that won't happed. So, either you have a vacation for a sustained period of time away from Garden, and no contact with Garden either. That means no Zell. Or, " The doctor continued after she saw the sour look on Quistis' face. " Or you can stay here at Garden, but no missions what so ever, only allowed to teach 2 classes a week, train 3 times a week and attending therapy 6 days a week. And that will go on as long as necessary." The doctor looked over to the couple in front of her. One looked very disgruntled the other almost passive.

"No fucking way in Hyne's name am I just going to sit around Garden and do dick shit any more. Squall finally gives me another mission and you want to take it away from me? I don't think so." Glared Quistis as she stood up off the bed and let go of Zell's hand, then stormed out of the infirmary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whoa…… freaky Quistis. But don't worry. This is all happening for a reason. Who knows? Maybe she'll end up as nuts as Evan…Nah, can't do that. One nut ball in the story is good enough. Other than that, the next couple of chapters may be a little over whelming. I have a ton of ideas fort he next couple of them, all I have to do it get them the way that I want them. And hopefully get them out quickly. Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time, Love and Cookies.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 5: Tempers Flare

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Little bit more language in this chapter than usual, but other than that it is pretty much the same as normal.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come in." Squall sighed. He had given up on trying to get work done today, and was now just sitting at his desk trying to take it all in. After Seifer had some back from dropping Evan off at the infirmary and took Raven away kicking and screaming, I had been constant interruptions.

The doors opened and there stood the one person who had not yet interrupted him this morning.

"Squall, we've got a slight problem." Zell said, coming in and making him self right at home on the large leather chairs.

"Today is not my day, Zell. I don't need to here about how there are too many students enrolled at Garden or how financing is going right now." Squall let out another hearty sigh as Zell leaned forward in his chair. 

"Oh, it's nothing to do with any of that stuff." answered the blond in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

"Then it can wait for another couple day." Squall then turned his chair and pretended to be interested in the work that was sitting on his desk, not facing towards Zell at all.

"Like hell it can. I'm up her to talk about the nervous break down I just witnessed my girlfriend have 2 hours ago. That is not something I want pushed to the side until tomorrow or the next day." Zell growled, his temper beginning to flare.

"She had a nervous breakdown?" Squall asked, his voice once again normal and monotone.

"Yes, and what's word, is that another one is one the way and it is going to be worse than this one." Zell added, hoping that Squall would get the hint.

"And what am I suppose to do about it? If Quistis has troubles expressing her emotions, I am not the one you should be coming to for help."

"You're suppose to be her friend, god dammit!" exclaimed Zell, getting pissed off and jumping to his feet.

"And I already have enough shit going on to deal with before her problems too. Now if you would please leave, I have some work that I really need to get done." Squall then picked up the pile of papers in front of him and started to read it, telling Zell that it was time for him to leave in an unverbal way.

"You're a goddamn sorcerer. What the hell goes on in your life that you have difficulties with? Paper work? Cause If that is all you have that makes your life a living hell and so much worse than everyone else's, you are wrong." flushed and flustered, Zell then stood up and began to storm towards the door. Just as he reached his hand out to turn the handle, the door flew open, knocking Zell down onto his ass.

As Zell got to his feet again, rubbing his behind, he saw Raven and Seifer standing there in front of him, both looking a little out of breath.

"Guys, we've got a problem." Seifer huffed, still trying to catch his breath.

"Then don't bother coming in here, because you'll get absolutely no sympathy from him." Zell turned as he said this and glared at Squall.

"No. It's a major thing that I swear, I had no part to do with it what so ever!" Raven insisted, seeing the disbelieving look on Zell's face. Squall sighed once again and put the papers in his hand down in a very pissed off manner.

"What exactly is this 'problem'. Tell me what in Hyne's name you guys are bitching about and I will judge whether or not it is a problem worthy of my time." Squall stood up and walked around to the front of his desk and began to rub his scar in a very pissed and irritated way.

"You fucking, arrogant pussy." Seifer growled and before you could say Chocolate Covered Chocobos, the blond knight was in front of the sorcerer, his hand wrapped around the younger man's throat. "You may be Hyne's fucking son, but you are still and asshole. Now you be a fucking human for a few minutes and get off your high pedestal." The snarl that was plastered on Seifer's face could have stopped even a Malboro dead in it's tracks.

"Fine." Squall managed to get out, despite the lack of oxygen in his body.

Seifer let the boy down somewhat carefully and just stood there as Squall gasped for breath. "Remember, Leonheart, you may be a fucking sorcerer, but you are not invincible."

"Fuck you, Almasy. Fuck you." glared Squall, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Too late, Squally. Too late." smirked the knight.

"Okay, break it up, you two. Y'all ain't kids anymore." Raven growled at the men in front of her. "We came up here to tell Squall about the problem we found downstairs."

"Now get on with it before I change my mind about listening." Squall sighed, still rubbing his neck. As well as he thought he knew his knight, Squall always seemed to forget just how strong Seifer really was.

"Well, I went down to the the infirmary to see how Evan was doing and Raven wanted to come and try and make peace with him. When we went into Evan's room, he was gone, the window was smashed in and there was a black feather there on his pillow. We asked all around, and no one saw where Ev could have gone." Seifer explained, then pulled a black feather out of the pocket of his long black trench coat.

"A black feather? What is that suppose to mean?" Zell asked from where he was standing, leaned up against the door frame.

"That's where it becomes a problem." Seifer said, as Squall took the feather and began to examine it.

"Ayana had this kind of obsession with black birds, hence where Crowe and I got our names. Anyway, she's always used black feathers as her mark. Like, if she destroyed something, she would always leave a black feather. So I think that there is a possibility that Ayana has something to do with Evan's disappearance." Raven said, sitting down on Squall's desk, then took the feather from Squall. " But I don't know why she'd take Evan if her target might be Squall."

"He was one of the people Quistis was getting files on for Squall before her breakdown. Maybe that has something to do with it." Zell suggested, still trying to make sense of everything.

"But why Evan?" Squall asked again. "Wait. Zell, where is Quistis now?" 

"I don't know. She stormed off out of Dr. K's office after we talked to her." sighed Zell.

"Call her up here. We don't need both blue mages gone." Squall was able to remain calm during everything. "And call up Omri, Tasman, and Pamora. I don't think that this madness is even far from over." 

Zell nodded then finally left, leaving only Seifer, Squall and Raven in the room.

"So what are we going to do about Evan?" Seifer asked, finally sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Nothing." Squall replied, walking over to look out the office window, trying to figure out how exactly Evan could have been kidnapped from a place where there were hundreds of SeeDs and SeeD cadets walking around at any given moment.

"You are fucking kidding me! You might be a heartless bastard, but Evan means everything to me. I don't want him in the hands of that psycho wench any longer than necessary." Seifer growled.

"Ayana isn't going to hurt him. I think that she may just be using him to lore the rest of us to her." Raven said so softly that Seifer and Squall almost didn't hear her.

"So you that she's got bigger plans for all of us?" Squall finally left his place in front of the window and came over to where Raven was still sitting on his desk. 

"Yeah. Her base is in Timber. She's got the whole town bugged. I don't know where we could stay without her getting us. But we need to be close if we want to get Evan back and find out what she is up to." Raven put her head into her hands and began to curse at herself for not being able to come up with a decent idea.

"That leaves Deling City or Dollet. And Evan won't go near Dollet yet." Squall added as if they had already rescued him, making Seifer feel a little better.

"I have a place on the Timber side of Deling. Right off the train route. Or we could get a car. It's only about a 4 hour drive to Timber from my place on train. We could all stay there once we come up with a plan." Seifer replied, internally blaming himself for letting Evan get kidnapped.

"You mean if we come up with a plan." Raven grumbled.

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Wow. This is coming along better than I would have hoped it would. Are people still reading it? I only got one review from the last chapter. That's why it took me a little while to get this chapter out. My muse didn't want to cooperate. So if you don't mind telling me what you think of this story, I would love you forever! And I am thinking of offering another reviewer's prize. The 50th reviewer will get a one shot story with a pairing of their choice. Well, my schedual is clearing up a little bit, so I might be able to get chapters out faster. Well, remember to review so you have a chance at the review prize and Love and Cookies.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 6: Change of Plans

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Little bit more language in this chapter than usual, but other than that it is pretty much the same as normal.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why do I have to be here again?" Quistis whispered to Zell as they sat around the boardroom table with Squall, Seifer, Raven, Omri, Pamora and Tasman.

"Your name was on the list that Raven gave to Squall. Plus we don't want you getting kidnapped like Evan." Zell replied as Squall stood up to signal that the meeting was now about to start.

"First off, everyone in this room will be on a mission starting today. The ending date is still unknown. I have already found replacements for each of your positions until you are able to return to work." Squall began, which sort of surprised Raven at how well the quiet boy could go from a heartless bastard, to a professional leader so easily.

"What type of mission is it?" Omri asked, running his hands through his spiky black hair.

"I will get to that in a moment. Second, for all of you who don't know her, this is Raven Noire, a transfer SeeD from Galbadia. At my request, she will be joining us for this mission." As Squall said this, Raven, Quistis and Zell all looked over at the commander as if the boy had finally gone mad.

"Isn't that the girl my guys picked up out on the plains who wouldn't submit any identification and asked for you by name, Commander?" Pamora interrupted, causing the 3 who were staring at Squall to look away.

"Yes. That was a test I had set up to make sure that Miss Noire's skills were as perfected and honed as Galbadia Garden and her file said they were." Squall replied, maintaining his professionalism even though he was telling a flat out lie. And just like that, Squall changed to another subject. "You are all to get ready for this mission as we are leaving tonight. No uniforms are allowed as it is an undercover mission, and there will be absolutely no contact with Garden while we are on it. And before anyone asks, there is no option of getting out of the mission."

"Are you going to tell us what the mission is? And why are we required to be the ones who go on it, sir?" a timid voice came from Tasman's chair. For the shy blonde to speak was a big thing.

"I am getting to that as well. Anything that goes on here in the boardroom today is not to leave this room. It is all top secret and if anyone asks you what you mission is, just say that it is a monster extermination mission. Any events today are to only be known by you. Absolutely nothing is to leave this room." As Squall looked around the room, all eyes were on him. Quistis, Zell, Seifer and Raven all had an idea what Squall was about to say, but Omri, Tasman and Pamora were completely in the dark.

"Yes, sir." Tasman saluted, followed closely by Pamora and Omri.

"Squall, are you sure?" Raven asked as Squall reached around his neck.

Without answering Raven, Squall dropped his hands and turned to the three newcomers.

"Have any of you studied the legend of Hyne's son?" Squall asked as Omri, Pamora and Tasman were all looking very confused.

"The Second Coming of Hyne. He is born within a few generations of a knight, and is said to possess more power that Hyne himself could have even hoped for." Pamora said, the knowledge that got her head of security showing through.

"And with him comes a powerful knight and guardians. It has never happened and probably never will because everything is so rare." Omri added on, showing that he too had brains.

"The guardians are blue mages and the knight is holy. And when the four join forces in battle, they are said to be invincible." Tasman finished off, not wanting to be shown up by the other two.

"Would the Holy knight please stand up?" Squall commanded. Even though he didn't want to, Seifer felt his body pulled up to stand facing Squall. "Blue Mage?" as Squall said this, Quistis too felt her body stand and face her sorcerer.

"But there is suppose to be 2 blue mages." Pamora said, a little surprised at everything.

"Evan Brunnard is the other blue mage. He has been kidnapped. One part of this mission you are about to embark on will be to find and free him from captivity." Squall replied, reaching up to remove Griever. As he handed the pendent to the person on his right, who happened to be Raven, the brunet let out a small shudder as the magical energies began to course though his veins for the second time today.

"Is the other part of our mission to find Hyne's son?" Tasman once again spoke up.

"That will not be necessary." Squall answered as he held his head up high, towards the heavens. As if being drawn up by a mysterious force, his arms went straight out as Squall began to rise off the ground.

"What in Hyne's name is going on? "Omri exclaimed, jumping up.

"Just sit down and watch. This is something that you'll never forget." Zell said, looking over at the other three who had never seen this before and noticed that they all had disbelieving looks on their faces.

The white light began to appear around Squall as his wings began to fold out from behind him.

"No way!" Pamora now jumped up, not believing what she saw happening in front of her, Tasman and Omri not believing either.

"Commander Leonheart is Hyne's son?" Questioned Tasman, her voice considerably louder that usual.

"Yes, I am Hyne's son." Squall nodded in his once again deep.

"I can't believe it. Hyne's son has been running Garden behind our backs." Omri gasped, falling back into his chair.

Squall placed his hands back down to his sides and all eyes were on him as he began to float back down to the floor. The wings and the light then faded into thin air.

"Do you want your pendent back?" Raven asked, running her fingers over the platinum lion's head.

"Not right now. You hold onto it." Squall said, looking at the dark hared girl.

"So what exactly is it that the mission you are sending us on requires, sir?" Omri asked, still a little taken aback about Squall's little secret.

"Sorceress Adel's younger sister, Ayana is planning to take over Esthar. Raven has just returned from a mission to find and explore Ayana's base. After finding it in Timber, Raven found files on Garden staff and SeeDs. Those names are the names of all those present in this room here today." As Squall said this, the 3 people who did not already know this gasped in surprise.

"Why our names?" Pamora questioned as if Squall already knew the answer.

"We are not sure. All we know is that Ayana is very powerful. The only other person whose name was on the list that isn't here today is Evan. We think that might be a reason why he was kidnapped from the infirmary earlier this morning. Pamora?" Squall turned to the brown hared girl.

"Sir?" Pamora asked, saluting.

"After this meeting is adjourned, I want you to look over the tapes for the infirmary from this morning and tell me if you notice anything strange or out of the ordinary.

"Yes sir." Nodded the girl.

"Next off, I am going to require that from now until we leave for the mission, you are to travel in assigned pairs. Your pair may travel with another, but at all times you are to be with the one I assign you with. There is no changing of the groups and if there is any disagreements or arguments between group members, I will be forced to take drastic measures."

When Squall said this, Quistis squeezed Zell's hand a little.

"That bastard. He put me with Raven I bet." Quistis whispered to her boyfriend.

"He wouldn't do that, would he?" assured Zell, although he wasn't too confident himself.

"Pamora and Tasman, you are Group A. Omri and Zell, you are Group B. Group C, Quistis and Raven, while Seifer and I will make up Group D. Now, all of you are dismissed. We will be leaving at 2100hrs, and meet at the parking lot. And I need to see Quistis and Raven before you all leave." Squall then turned around and walked towards the door that connected the boardroom to his office.

"I'm going to kill him. I don't care if he is a sorcerer or a seagull. That boy is dead." Growled Quistis, her face flushed with anger as everyone around her began to move.

"It's only a couple of hours, Angel. And you can still talk to me. I'm probably going to be at our place trying to explain everything that is going on to Omri. Plus I am sure that Squall has a good explanation for it." Zell said as the black hared SeeD began to walk over towards them. "Just think of something totally unrelated to the mission and ignore her if you need to." Zell leaned over and gave Quistis a short kiss before walking over to meet Omri in the middle of the room.

All of a sudden the noise of the room hushed and the only sound that could be heard was that of the two giant doors closing, leaving Quistis and Raven to be the only occupants of the boardroom.

Although Raven wasn't looking over at Quistis, she couldn't help but feel Quistis staring into the side of her head.

"I think we should go see what Squall wants to see us about." Raven whispered meekly as she stood up and followed the path of the sorcerer. Quistis just glared as she watched the girl leave.

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I hate making excuses to why I haven't gotten chapters out, but I don't have my computer right now, and I am using a friends. And also, a lot of you are noticing that I have a lot of mistakes in my spelling and grammar. It's just that I barely have enough time to write the chapter and get it up. So I am asking if there is anyone out there in fanfiction land that would like to be my beta reader. If anyone is interested in the job, just email me at fantasy_dragon@loveable.com and we can talk about it. If you don't want to email me, you can leave it in a review, as well leave your email address. As well, I am still offering the 50th review prize (we're half way to it!), but if you think that you might get it, please leave your email address so that I can contact you and get the details of your story. Well, that's all the rambling I have for today. Until next time, Love and Cookies! 


	7. Chapter 7

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 7: Journey's Start

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Little bit more language in this chapter than usual, but other than that it is pretty much the same as normal.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Settle down, Trepe. What's done is done." Seifer growled as he held the struggling blonde back. As soon as Raven and Quistis had entered Squall's office after the meeting, Quistis had walked right up to the sorcerer and punched him. Squall was now nursing a black eye, and Quistis still wanted to go at him some more.

"Squall, you asshole. I have every right in the world to kill you right now." Quistis exclaimed, tears flowing down the blue mage's cheeks.

"Listen, I know you're are upset right now" Squall began, holding one hand over his eye as Raven stood beside him and started to call a cure spell to heal his eye.

"Upset? You think I am only upset!" screamed Quistis as she struggled more and more against Seifer's arms.

"Silence!" Squall had finally had enough of this. " You are going to let me explain myself with no interruptions, cursing or rational actions. I'm half tempted to cast stop on you as well."

The glare that Quistis shot at him was one that could send even death it's self to the grave.

"Why don't you let magic boy here explain himself before you try and kill him?" Seifer asked, pulling Quistis up close to his body to keep her from hurting anyone.

A scowl still on her face, the blond blue mage reluctantly agreed let Squall explain himself before hurting him.

"Before you tell her anything, why don't you tell me why the hell you are making me a SeeD again?" Raven butted in after she finished healing Squall's eye.

"This is something that Seifer and I discussed a little this afternoon. Since you are required to come with us on this mission, it is more convenient, plus you still have all the necessary skills." Squall said as he stood and walked across the room to one of the filing cabinets in the room. Pulling out one of the drawers, Squall retrieved a fold and after closing the cabinet, Squall returned to his desk. "All I need for you to do is to sign this form which will reissue all of your Garden identifications." added Squall as he pulled out a pen from his desk and held it out for Raven to take.

"Are you fucking nuts?" cursed Raven. " In the last year I have kidnapped, tortured, injured, Hyne even killed some of your best friends. You're ready to forgive me and let me into your Garden permanently."

"You were my first in command, Raven. You're good at what you do." Grunted Seifer as he still held the struggling Quistis.

"What do you say, Raven? Ready to change your life around for the better?" Squall asked on last time. 

"I think it's time for me to turn over a new leaf. This bad ass chick thing just isn't doing too much for me anymore." sighed the dark hared girl as she took the pen from the sorcerer and signed the paper.

"Now, Quistis. I understand your dislike for Raven, and yes I purposely assigned the two of you to the same group, but you are an instructor. You've always treated you students with respect and a sense of friendship. And if that is what it will take, Raven is now your student until after the mission. If you don't comply I will revoke your teaching license and suspend you SeeDship for even longer." Squall said sternly as he looked over to the silenced blue mage. Wave his hand over her and whispering one word, he removed the girl from the spell.

"I will respect her, but she is no friend of mine." Quistis glared, and with one swift kick behind her, Seifer let go of her and fell to the ground, cupping himself.

"Cruel, Trepe. Very cruel." he grumbled, in a much higher pitched voice. 

"Next time, don't hold me so tight then." Quistis smiled a very fake smile as she turned and began to walk out the door.

"Um, I'll see you guys later tonight." Raven whispered, then quickly followed after the blonde. Running out into the hall, Raven looked up and down the empty white hall only to see Quistis' back turning the corner. Sprinting to catch up, Raven knew that this could possibly be the worse day of her life. Before long, she was able to catch up with the one time instructor.

"I'm heading down to my apartment to pack." Quistis said in a dead monotone voice. Raven jumped when the blonde spoke, she had actually expected to be ignored.

"Okay. How many people share dorms here? It was 4 in Galbadia Garden." Raven tried to make small talk to ease the tension that was hanging in the air.

"2 normally. Seed's have a solo dorm. But faculty have the option of one bedroom apartments." Quistis replied as she walked in time beside Raven. She knew that while it was just the two of them she couldn't ignore her, but there was no way in Gaia that she was going to be friendly.

For Raven, the walk to the dorms seemed endless, the only sound as they passed through the carbon copy corridors were the sounds of boots on the tiles. As happy that she felt she could actually help beat Ayana, and have a place to belong, Raven knew deep down that earning her forgiveness and acceptance would be harder than any battle she had ever taken part in. And overcoming the hate that a certain blonde blue mage had for her could possibly be the hardest.

**********

"Then nest left and it is the sixth house on the right." Seifer said, pointing from the middle seat of the rented van.

"Man, Almasy, you really are out in the middle of fucking nowhere." Omri grumbled as he maneuvered around on the dirt road.

"I don't recall anything in my contract that says that I had to leave my house while in Garden." Seifer replied, somewhat snappy. After a 6 hour drive from Timber to here, and 3 hours on the train from Balamb, everyone in the van was now getting a little agitated, or was sleeping.

"But couldn't you pick a place closer to civilization?" sighed Zell as he turned around in the passengers seat to look at Seifer. With Seifer, Squall and Quistis in the middle, Pamora, Omri and Tasman all slept in the back seat.

"At least we're not being captured by a freak-o lady who wants to be a fucking sorceress." Seifer growled.

"If you two don't stop bickering, I will put an Ultima spell through each of you skills." Squall threatened, rubbing his temples. Although they were all anxious to get out of the car Seifer and Zell had been the worst. Everything that Seifer had said, Zell had a comment about, and everything Seifer had a say about, Zell commented on.

"You know you aren't suppose to use your powers like that, Squall." laughed Quistis. After she had packed with Raven, Quistis decided that she could completely ignore Raven unless Raven addressed her directly.

"Do you really want to listen to these two bitch the rest of the time we're out here?" Squall sighed, running his finger down his scar, Seifer and Zell still bickering around them. When Seifer heard Squall say this, it caused him to stop.

"You think all we do is bitch? Listen to yourself everyday, Mr. PMS spokesman." Seifer grumbled, leaning back in his chair.

"Well." Squall said, a little bit of a smile peaking at the corner of his mouth as he reached over and with one short whisper, he touched Seifer's lips and as he did, a blizzard spell froze Seifer's lips together.

"You asshole!" Seifer cursed, but it sounded more like a series of grunts and groans.

"Cat got your tongue?" Zell laughed, finding this highly amusing.

"Shut up, or you'll end up like him too." Omri laughed, finally pulling into the driveway of a decent looking small house.

"Is this the place?" Squall asked, a bit of a sigh falling out as he spoke.

The only thing that Seifer did as he opened the door and got out was to look back at the sorcerer and gave him the finger.

"I guess it is the right place." Quistis giggled as she, Squall, Omri and Zell followed Seifer's lead and got out of the van and stood looking up at the house.

"And how many rooms are there again?" Omri asked with his hand on his hip.

Seifer tried to respond, but due to the fact of his lips still being frozen together, the only noise that came out were a few muffled grunts.

"Esuna." said Squall in a not very enthusiastic way.

"Asshole! I don't think it is a good idea for you to be going around with out your pendent on! You are more of a threat to you allies then to the bad guys!" Seifer cursed, rubbing his lips.

"Gotta practice with my powers somehow. What is the point of having them if I can't use them?" shrugged Squall as he climbed back in the van to wake the three girls sleeping in the back.

"Why did you suggest he not wear Griever for this mission again?" Seifer glared at Quistis.

"A good idea so that if we come across an enemy, he'll be prepared." Quistis only could laugh at the whole thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone, and a happy (insert your favorite winter holiday here) to everyone! Finally got my computer back, and am I ever happy! I'm happy with how this story is coming along, is everyone else? Let me know what you think, it would be awesomely appreciated! The beta reader position is still open for anyone who wants it, and the review prize is still up for grabs. I've got 28 reviews, so 22 until it's claimed. Well, I hope to have another chapter up in the next week and a half, so keep yours eyes pealed for it! Love and Holiday Cookies!


	8. Chapter 8

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 8: Midnight Chats

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Same as usual....

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seifer rolled over and sighed. The clock on the nightstand told him it was now 2:47am and he still had not gotten to sleep. The thought of Evan being gone did not sit too well with the blond.

Sitting up as he rubbed his eyes, Seifer looked around his bedroom. There were three bodies on the floor, each one sleeping soundly. Squall had decided when they first arrived that because there were only two bedrooms in Seifer's house that all the guys could sleep in one of the bedrooms, while the four girls shared the other. So that meant that Seifer was stuck sharing his bedroom with Squall, Omri and Zell.

As he sat there staring into the darkness, a slight noise caused the knights ears to perk up. Quietly getting out of bed, the blond made his way around the three sleeping bags, praying to Hyne above that he didn't fall. Who knows what Squall was capable of doing with his powers if he was surprised. 

Still hearing a few strange noises coming from downstairs, Seifer crept over to the hall closet where all the weapons were being held. There were only two exceptions. Squall's gunblade, because it wasn't here. And Zell's gloves. After Zell had informed the group that he felt naked without his gloves on, everyone thought it best that he keep them on. On the shelf with all the blades laying on it, Seifer moved Tasman's dirk blade, Raven's longsword and Pamora's twin katanas before finally pulling out his Hyperion.

Getting into a defensive stance, Seifer posed a pretty pathetic picture to the possible intruder. A blond 20-year-old wielding the legendary gunblade, wearing blue and white poka-dotted boxers and a plain white T-shirt. Making his way slowly down the stairs, he paused. There was a light coming from the dining room, and from what Seifer could tell, that's where the noises were coming from as well. Taking a deep breath and swallowing the large lump in the back of his throat, Seifer finally took the initiative. 

"Who the fuck is there?" Seifer exclaimed, bursting into the room, ready to attack. 

There, staring at him as if he was going to kill her was Tasman, scared to death.

"Hey, hey. It's only me." Tasman said, seeing Seifer's gunblade held above his head.

"Tasman? What the hell are you doing up at this hour?" questioned Seifer as he propped his gunblade up against the wall and took a seat beside the petite girl.

"I'm an insomniac. I have never been able to get a decent night's sleep since I was 6 years old. 5 hours is a really long sleep for me. It's one of the main reasons why I don't go on field missions. They don't think that I am aware enough." Tasman said as she continued to type away on the keyboard, her eyes never leaving the screen as she spoke to the knight. "And you?"

"This is the first time that I've actually sat down and allowed myself to let the fact that Evan is gone right now to sink in. We were on the train last night and it's been none stop during the days. So what are you doing right now?" 

"I'm looking in all of the Garden files of everyone here to see if there is anything in our past that links all the people that this Ayana person had on her list. So far it just seems too random." grumbled the girl.

"You know. You are much more open and outgoing when there is no one else around." Seifer observed.

"Well, first off. Most of the time I would rather be working on computers, second. Omri is an ex-boyfriend of mine, so we no longer get along very well."

"That sucks. Have you gotten any reasons yet?" Seifer said, deciding that it was time to change the subject.

"Nothing. Nothing on GF use, SeeD experience, ages, names, where we were born, magical resistances. Hyne, there isn't even a connection between our birthdays." sighed the girl.

"Don't forget that Ev, Trepe, Squall and I are probably on the list from where we are the Neo Hyne stuff." Seifer then leaned his chair back and raised his feet to rest them on the tabletop.

"You know, you are a lot nicer where there is no one else around." Tasman said, tearing her eyes away from the screen and looking at the blond knight sitting beside her.

"Nah, you just haven't given me a good reason to pick on you yet." chuckled Seifer, then the two fell in to a comfortable silence.

"Did you know that I've known Evan for an awful long time?" asked Tasman, completely changing both the subject and the mood.

"Huh?" Seifer said, almost causing his chair to go flying backwards. When he finally got his balance back, he looked over at Tasman. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Evan and I are the same age, graduated the same year and knew one another before coming to garden." Tasman explained, not tearing her eyes away from the computer screen as she continued to type away.

"No. He's never mentioned that. But, oh yeah. The whole time that I've really known him, he's been clinically insane. Maybe that has something to do with it." Seifer said in an overly sarcastic manner. 

"Anyway." Tasman said, clearing her throat. " Evan and I grew up together. Our parents were best friends. Then when our town was destroyed, we came to Garden together." Tasman continued, not caring the slightest bit whether or not Seifer was listening or even cared about what she was talking about.

"Destroyed? By what? How? What town?" Seifer was now fully interested in what the normally shy and quiet girl had to say.

"It was in the last few months of the Sorceress War, and it was a little town on the border of Trabia and Esthar, Rendsel. Everyone said that it was one of Sorceress Adel's troops that did it, because it was so powerful that Evan and I were the only survivors. There were some Galbadian soldiers that passed through the town and found us on their way to Esthar. They told us that it was a magic infused bomb and we were very lucky that we were still alive."

"Galbadian troops? Going through Rendsel?" Seifer asked with a raise eyebrow. "I didn't think that Galbadia sent troops through that way." Seifer was a little confused. Although he didn't like learning, he liked war and was quite knowledgeable on the Sorceress War, being a knight and everything.

"Well, there were only three of them and they said they weren't acting as soldiers, but just on their way to find someone being held in Esthar. And they offered to take us to Esthar with them. Anyways, that's not important." Tasman shook her head, then went back to the screen of the computer eager to change the subject.

"So have you found anything out that links you, Omri, Pamora and chicken wuss?" Seifer asked, finally getting off his chair and walking so that he was behind Tasman and looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"No. And it's driving me nuts. If only I had a couple more stats to compare!" she grumbled, rubbing both eyes with the palm of her hand. "4 is not enough!"

"What if you had six people to work with?" Seifer asked, rubbing his scar with his first two fingers. 

"Who else would I include? " It was now Tasman's turn to be confused. "There's no one else that Commander Leonheart mentioned."

"No. We just never told you about 2 of the people on Ayana's list." sighed Seifer. "Nida Yang & Xu Yoshitaka." As Seifer said the two names, Tasman opened new search fields and typed in each name, hoping for results.

"Why didn't we know about them being on the list?" Tasman asked.

"You'll see in just a moment." Seifer's voice dramatically changed from to a somewhat depressed and down tone as the two search results popped up.

"Nida Yang, SeeD level 21. Deceased. Xu Yoshitaka, SeeD level 24. Deceased. Both say they were killed in battle on the same day. What happened?" Tasman's eyes widened and she looked behind her at Seifer, whose facial expression had changed as drastically as his voice.

"This is what happened the last time we fought Ayana. Raven's twin brother and boyfriend were both killed by Ayana. Ayana has this move, a limit break that can kill you instantly. And she doesn't even have to be in her own body to use it. She was using a one-time ally of Squall's to kill Falcon and Crowe. Plus she has a way so she can take over other people's minds, make them do as she wants. She did that to Raven and caused Raven to kill Nida and Xu. But that move, man is it ever powerful. She was starting to use it on me, but Trepe got me out of the way before it did too much damage." Seifer lied for Raven for some odd reason, and shuddered at the thought of Ayana's move. The pain he felt that day still lingering on his mind.

"Wait a second." Tasman said, very suddenly.

"What? Did I say something?" Seifer looked, but saw nothing on the screen any different from the last time he looked.

"My magic sat, 215. Omri's, 215. Pamora's, 215. Zell's, 215. And the 2 deceased both have a stat of 215. That is all without junctions. Do you think that she could be after our magical abilities?" Tasman once again looked at Seifer.

"Magic? I don't have a high magic stat, but I am the sorcerer's knight. Evan and Trepe are both Mages, so they do, and well, Squall is off the charts. Last time that we fought her, Ayana was bent on taking over Esthar. Maybe she wants to have a magical army, because she has the ability to take over our thoughts. She could make us all use GFs." Seifer thought the idea over and it sounded farfetched enough to be something Ayana might do.

"But Esthar is a very technologically advanced nation. Wouldn't they be able to stop a magical attack?"

"Not if it is natural magic. You know Dr. Odine?" 

"Who doesn't?" 

" Well, he's the one who created all of Esthar's magical products. He's only ever used Para-magic. All their defenses are based off Para-magic. And natural magic is ten times more powerful than junctioning."

"So you think that she wants to use Squall's natural magic through us?" Tasman asked, hopeful that she had found something.

"I think so." Seifer nodded with a grin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uh-oh. Something is gonna happen. I've got a little idea tucked in the back of my mind for what is going to happen over the next couple chapters. And believe me, you'll be surprised. It's the main idea on which I built this story around. And it's almost here! Probably in the next couple chapters. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is going to have an even better New Year! Love and cookies!


	9. Chapter 9

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 9: Back To The Past 

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Little bit more language in this chapter than usual, but other than that it is pretty much the same as normal.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want all of you to be used to using multiple high level spells in a row. Before we leave, I want each of you to have 100 of each Flare, Holy, Ultima, Aura, Triple, Pain, Death and elemental spells. Plus a full supply of restorative and support magic. Does anyone have any problems with anything that I am saying?" Squall asked, as he paced in front of the small group as they stood outside, getting ready to practice. After Tasman and Seifer's discovery, Squall decided to train and get out as early as possible.

"Where are going to find like 700 of all these spells? There are no major draw points around here. We can't draw magic from thin air." Omri questioned, a little confused.

"I've sent a large shipment of refinable items from Garden that will arrive within the hour. That will take care of most of the spells. Anything that we still need, I will allow people to draw some from me." As Squall said this, he looked around the small backyard. I was not going to be easy for eight of them to practice in the small area.

"What about GF's? I know that Seifer, Quistis and I all have one, but what about everyone else?" Zell was the next to raise a question. 

"I don't need one. My thunderbird is like a personal GF." Raven spoke up. 

When the dark hared girl said this, everyone else looked over at her with confused looks over their faces.

"A GF?" Pamora asked, surprised.

"You have your own Guardian Force that no one knew about?" Tasman asked, equally as shocked as everyone else. 

"Why don't you explain what you mean to everyone." Squall asked, almost as curious as the rest of the group.

"Crowe, who was my twin brother, and I were always able to summon a black thunderbird, but only if we both wanted to. Anzu is her name. When Crowe was murdered last year, Anzu gave all her power to me, and I am able to summon her when ever I want to. Plus, I am able to junction through her. I guess she is just like a GF, only she's been living inside me and Crowe since we were born." shrugged the girl. 

"Whoa. That's pretty cool." Omri said, and everyone agreed. 

"Okay, so who has what GF? So that way everyone here knows what everyone is using. If you don't have one, just say and tell me who you are comfortable using." Squall said, rubbing his scar.

"I have Leviathan." Quistis was the first to speak up. 

"I'm with Bahamut." said Zell.

"And I use Alexander." continued Seifer.

"Right now I have Pandemona." As Pamora said this, Quistis fell to the ground clutching her head.

"Quistis!" Zell screamed, running over to his fallen girlfriend.

"What the hell?" Seifer exclaimed, falling soon after.

"What is going on here?" Omri yelled as Tasman hurried over to the blond knight.

"She's gone." Zell said, laying Quistis' head on his lap.

"Why would Ellone do something like this right now." Squall grumbled, turning his back and walking away.

"Ellone? Who the hell is Ellone and what the hell is going on!" Omri repeated, obviously confused.

"The pure sorceress. She is in my father's care. He is her knight. Along with the power of pure magic, Ellone was given the ability to send peoples consciousnesses into the past. It seems that she has chosen this time to send both Quistis and Seifer into the past." explained Squall, everyone stressing to here the soft spoken sorcerer.

"Whoa. This trip is just getting weirder and weirder." Pamora shook her head, clutching her forehead.

"Ellone? Is she the one who...you know...changed the direction of the last battle?" Raven spoke up, everyone almost forgetting she was there.

"Last battle? Back the chocobo up. I think that there should be some explaining here. We're fighting this so called powerful bitch, who most of us have no clue who she is. Then we have no idea how she fights and now we find out a bunch of you have already fought her and not telling us what to expect. Are you trying to get us killed? Omri was beginning to get really pissed off and if no one told him things, he would seriously lose it.

"Well, we fought this bitch, she killed my boyfriend and twin brother, almost killed Seifer, after holding him, Evan and Quistis hostage for almost a week. All this time, I was under her command, and she was using another persons body from some remote base. Quistis delivered the final blow, sending the body into a different dimension. I've been on the hunt for her since that day to find and kill her for what she did to me." Raven snarled, glaring down on Omri, although he was much taller that she.

"So, why were you working for her?" Tasman asked, still supporting Seifer's head.

Raven looked at Zell, who ignored her, then at Squall. Squall just shrugged leaving it up Raven to decide. 

"Ayana is my mother. The same blood flows through our veins." Raven said, turning her head so that she was no longer looking at any of the people she had travelled here with. 

"You're out to kill your own mother? How heartless can you get?" Pamora said, looking at Raven with a disgusted look.

"Leave her alone, Pamora. Ayana is pure evil. She is wanted in Galbadia on many accounts of murder, including her own son." Zell spoke up, rubbing his hand over Quistis hair. Raven was surprised that the blond had actually stood up for her.

"Are you even SeeD?" Omri asked, not sure if he actually could trust the newcomer anymore.

"She was. She left on a personal leave of absence, and I re-instated her SeeDship earlier. So, it was a lie that she had returned from an undercover operation, but she did find the information that we needed." Squall said, walking over to Raven and placing a hand onto her shoulder. "I feel that she is trustworthy and if I see anyone treat her any differently now that the past is out, they'll have to see to me." 

"I don't know...It will take some time to get adjusted to." Omri said, then walked over to the corner of the backyard and started to cast a firaga on a falling leaf.

"Where do you think that they were sent to?" Tasman asked, watching as Seifer's face distorted a little.

"I have no clue. The last time that she started to send us back into the past it was into my father's body and eventually I ended up meeting him for the first time." Squall groaned, remembering the day that Ellone had confirmed it.

"But isn't that a good thing?" Pamora asked, a little confused by Squall's emotions.

"My father is a moronic idiot who is convinced that he has to make up for the 17 years that he wasn't there for." Squall said, then walked over to where Tasman was. "What element are you most comfortable with?" 

"Holy. But I don't think that there are any available GFs. But that's okay. I can use magic anyway." Tasman said, checking to see if Seifer had a fever.

"You can?" Squall said, a little sceptical.

"But only holy. And curative." Tasman shrugged. Seeing the look on Squall's face, she continued. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No. I'm not sure what it means." Squall replied, then they heard Seifer gasp. The blond knight sat up and started to gasp for breath. Seconds later, Quistis began to do the same thing.

"How was it?" Zell whispered, pulling the sobbing Quistis into his arms.

"I...was....her." she spoke softly, obviously shaken by the experience.

"Her? Who is her?" Tasman asked, as Seifer just sat there looking off into space.

"Ayana. I was in her body." Quistis then broke down crying again. 

"You were in my mother's body? What happened?" Raven asked, almost cautious about what she said to the blonde blue mage. 

"She truly is evil. There is not a single good thought in her head. I never knew that any one person could be so evil. Even Ultimecia wasn't this evil. She was interrogating Evan when I was in there. I don't ever want to do that again." Quistis cried as she held onto Zell for dear life.

"It's okay. You don't have to do it again." he whispered and then kissed her forehead. 

"What was Ellone thinking?" Squall cursed. "Seifer, where did you go?" The sorcerer turned and looked at his knight.

"I was inside Evan's head while Ayana questioned him. The only thoughts were of me." Seifer said, a solitary tear falling down his cheek. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She lives, she lives!!! No, I'm not dead. I just had a major writers block. I think I may have overcome it. Is anyone still reading this story? I think one of the reasons why I had such a writers block was because of the lack of support I have gotten for this story. I am still offering the prize to the 50th reviewer, hopefully I can get up to that stage, but I'm sure I will. Well, Love and Cookies until next time and I will love you forever if you remember to review! 


	10. Chapter 10

Sorcery Illusions 

Chapter 10: Unknown Power 

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Little bit more language in this chapter than usual, but other than that it is pretty much the same as normal.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, what did Ayana ask Evan?" Squall asked, as he, Quistis and Seifer sat at the kitchen table. Needing to know everything that happened while they were in the past, Squall figured that he could determine exactly why Ellone had sent them back.

"I don't want to say. It's not a good thing." Quistis whispered, hanging her head low. She hated to repeat what had been said what had to have been recently.

"Is it going to effect our mission? You know that it is in violation of SeeD code 378F, A SeeD will not withhold information from the mission leader if it will effect the current mission." replied Squall as he rubbed his scar in irritation for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day.

"I know what the fucking SeeD code is, Squall. But it's what she said that I don't want to repeat. Squall, that lady is out to destroy the world. I am not the least bit proud to say that I, even if only for a few minutes, shared the same mind as her." Quistis screamed, many emotions apparent on her flushed face.

"Fine then. Seifer. As my knight, you are required to follow my orders. What was being said while you were in Evan's head?" Squall said, turning around to face the silent blond knight. 

"Evan wasn't listening to her, and that's how I know all his thoughts were on me." was all that Seifer was saying.

"That's it. I have just added another 3 months onto your suspensions. If the information pertained was important to this mission, you are required to tell me. I will leave you two to think about telling me. I'll be back in in around 10 minutes to see if you are willing to talk then." Squall said, shaking his head as he began to walk out of the kitchen and into the backyard where everyone else was practicing.

"She wants to use Evan to resurrect Adel. She found the body and wants to bring her sister back. There's something about Raven that will help her. She wants to absorb Adel's power than kill her again. Evan is only in the plan to use Phoenix. But Raven is part of Ayana's plan."

Squall turned around to look at Quistis. 

"What?" he asked.

"Ayana wants to use Evan to resurrect Adel, junction Adel's power, kill Adel, and Raven fits into it all some how." Quistis repeated.

"And what did Evan say back?" Squall turned again and looked at Seifer who was still being quieter than normal.

"Nothing. Ayana hit him, I think she knocked him out. That would explain why Seifer was sent back, it probably knocked Elle out of the trance. So, I came back too." the blue mage hung her head low as she spoke very quietly. 

"Why weren't you going to tell me this, Quistis? You are disappointing me." Squall glared over at her.

"I was interrogating one of my best friends! Evan got hurt! Squall, that was one of the worst experiences of my life, why do you think I didn't say anything!" Quistis exclaimed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood up slammed her hands down on the oak table. 

"Do not raise your voice to me!" Squall yelled, his face flushing as he stood up again.

"Get off your fucking pedestal, asshole. Maybe some of us aren't quite as emotionless as you, you heartless bastard." Seifer said, as he glared at the sorcerer and then he and Quistis walked outside, no way to tell who was more pissed off. 

"Stop it! Stop it!" Tasman yelled, crying as she screamed at Omri. She had her hands over her ears and fell to the ground.

"You are a whore and you know it!" growled Omri, who was being held back by Zell.

"STOP IT!" screamed Tasman, Pamora and Raven watching, not knowing how to comfort her. She fell down to her knees, holding her head inn her hands, just wishing that Omri would go way.

"You have been going around after we broke up and slept with the whole IT sector. You are such an easy slut." he spat, Seifer walking over to him.

"You should learn to treat the ladies with respect." Seifer growled, not letting it show that what happened in Evan's head was emotionally plaguing him.

"And what would a faggot like you know about treating women?" glared Omri.

Now Seifer was fuming.

Zell saw this and knew that Omri had pushed all of Seifer's buttons way too far.

"I'll hold him." Zell said, a little out of breath as Omri struggled to get out of Zell's strong grip. 

"Thanks, Chicken Wuss." Seifer smirked, then walked over to Omri and punched him right in the gut. The force of Seifer's blow was enough to knock the wind out of Omri.

"Asshole." muttered Omri as Zell finally let him go and the dark hared boy fell to the ground, still trying to catch his breath. 

"I might be a faggot, but at least I know when to give respect when it is deserved." growled Seifer, as he glared down at the sai wielding boy.

Omri glared, then looked over at Tasman who was kneeling down, Pamora and Raven trying to comfort the crying blonde.

"I'm sorry. Sorry that this faggot had to stick up for you." spat Omri as he glared.

"NO!" screamed Tasman as she stood up, still clutching her head as if in pain.

"What the hell is happening out here?" Squall exclaimed, rushing out of the house as he heard Tasman scream. Just as the sorcerer walked into the practice area. 

Tasman's body was taken over in a bright white light and she began to float about 2 feet off the ground. Her arms and legs flailed as she went through an excruciating pain.

"What's happening, Squall? Is she a sorceress?" Raven asked, freaking out as much as anyone.

"Squall, what the hell is she going through? Can't you help her?" Seifer screamed at his knight.

"Would you all just shut up!" Squall exclaimed, casting silence on the entire group. "I will try to get into her head and determine what is happening. Pamora and Raven, I want you to stand near here, but not directly under her. Just in case she falls."

Raven and Pamora both nodded and took up position near Tasman's presence.

"Quistis, go inside and get a cold facecloth. After she comes out of it, she will want one." 

Quistis gave a quick nod and then ran into the house.

"And now everyone else stand back." Squall then stood away from everyone and let his wings spend to their full span. Raising one hand, he held it out towards Tasman and started to mutter a chant in a language that none of the others had ever hear before.

Tasman screamed loudly, even though she was still under the silence spell, and her body started to contort in pain.

"Make it stop!" Tasman screamed, the pain she was feeling very apparent to everyone else around.

"Dammit, this is strong." Squall cursed, a film of sweat coming to vision on his pale brow.

"Please, please, make it stop!" pleaded Tasman. The pain she was feeling was unbearable, and it was causing a burning sensation throughout her veins.

"Only another few moments..." Grumbled Squall. This was obviously as hard on him as it was on Tasman. The rest of the group watched on in amazement as finally a bright white light began to flash around, coming out of various parts of Tasman's body.

"NO!" screamed Tasman as she felt as if there was something being ripped apart from her soul.

A gleaming white light finally emerged from Tasman's chest and a transparent figure was seen in front of her. As soon as the figure was seen, Tasman floated down into Pamora and Raven's arms.

"What are you?" Squall asked the giant light beast.

The horse shaped figure looked at Squall and stared at him for a good couple of minutes before opening it's transparent mouth. 

Everyone around was gathered beside Tasman, with the exception of Zell and Omri, and was staring at the huge figure in front of them.

The sounds that left the mouth of the beast were not any language that the group knew, but was the same language that Squall had been muttering in before. after a decent length conversation the beast turned around and looked at Tasman. Knowing that everyone else was still under the silence spell that he had cast, Squall waved his arm over everyone and whispered "Esuna".

"This is Pegasus. She has been residing in your body for a long time. Her element is holy, which explains why you have always been able to junction holy and curative magic without a GF. You've always had one that has been in you. Her attack is called Blessed Wing." Squall said softly, a little bit of a smile playing no his pale lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone. I can't believe it's been less then a month since I last updated. I've had a couple of ideas floating around in my head and I am just trying to get them all into play without having too much going on in the story at once. So are people still liking this? I'm still not exactly sure on what direction the story will be going in, but I have a few ideas that are definitely going in there. I still need 16 more reviews before I hit 50, and the 50th reviewer will get a short story of a pairing of their choice. So keep reviewing in case you are the 50th reviewer! Love and cookies!


	11. Chapter 11

Sorcery Illusions   
  
Chapter 11: Guardian Realm   
  
Disclaimer:  
  
I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.  
  
Warning:  
I'm still kickin' and the warning is the same as ever.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Alexandra AKA ~*~Fantasy Dragon~*~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Was that sunlight? The life source that he had been deprived of for the last couple days?  
  
  
No. There was no way that sun light could penetrate the thick walls of the dungeon he was being held captive in.  
  
  
'Evan...'   
  
  
'Whose calling my name?' the blue mage wondered as he struggled to find the strength in him to pry open his tired eyes.  
  
  
'Evan?'  
  
  
"Who the hell is calling me?" Evan asked, still unaware if his voice was audible to the other person or if it was only in his head.  
  
  
'Please Master, awaken...'  
  
  
"Master? Who the hell did I sleep with?" Evan groaned. Finally, with all the strength he could finally muster, Evan's eyes flew open, but were at once blinded by a bright light that Evan had never seen before. To prevent total blindness, the red head had to raise his weak arm to shield his eyes.  
  
  
'Master, are you coherent?'  
  
  
"Who the hell is there?" Evan cried out before the surreal feeling of being lifted into the air overtook his body.  
  
  
'It is I, the Phoenix.' At that moment, the distinct outline of a bird appeared a few feet in front of Evan.  
  
  
"But a GF can't speak. I know! My therapist told me that I might experience hallucinations, and I should just pinch my self if something seems a little to weird to be true." Evan concluded before hastily grabbing a fair portion of the skin on his arm and squeezing. Hard. "Owie!"   
  
  
'Master...'The Phoenix trailed off as the birds appearance was becoming more and more clear, so it was now obvious that this was not just a normal bird, but indeed the legendary bird that Evan had control over.   
  
  
"Okay, so if it isn't a hallucination, is it a dream? Wait, it can't be a dream. If it was a dream, I would have woken up when I pinched my self. Maybe I am being hypnotized. But if that was the case, why would I be asking my self all these questions? Wouldn't I be feeling good? I know! This is a virtual world created by my worst enemy to trap me for eternity and kill my body! That has to be it." Evan decided, as he paced the air he was floating on.  
  
  
'No master, this is indeed reality.' Evan's eyes focused on the bird and took in the sheer beauty that radiated off it.   
  
  
"Well, the last time I checked, I wasn't floating in mid air and blinded by an unexplainable bright light. I was left in a cold, dark, moldy, smelly, damp cell? Did I leave any disgraceful adjectives?" Evan asked with complete sarcasm.   
  
  
'I have taken you into the Guardian realm.' Phoenix explained, it's gigantic wings creating a cool breeze for Evan in the warm environment.  
  
  
"Now, why would you do something silly like that?" Evan asked, a little unsure what he should be feeling right now. Should he be scared? Nervous? Excited? Sick?  
  
  
'Because. You are a Guardian Mage. You have the power to communicate freely with the Guardians of Hyne.' As he watched the beak of the bird move, he was given a sense that this bird was not only a mythical beast, but also had a sense of humanity in him too.  
  
  
"So, are you telling me that I can talk to a GF? Like I do to other people?" Evan's eyes were as wide as saucers. There was just no possible way on earth, heaven or any other place in the universe that what was happening could be real.  
  
  
'Yes. This conversation would have happened between us sooner, but in your previous mental state, it would not have produced any results. There were barriers in your mind that hindered me from answering to your calls.'  
  
  
"So what is the difference now? What happened in the last couple hours that changed my mental state? I don't recall anything happening that should completely change my mentality. I know I was completely insane and tramatized, no one has to tell me that." Evan spoke as he sat down as he floated in the air.  
  
  
'While being held in captivity, Ayana tried to make you summon me. After you bluntly refused, you were tortured and asked again. When you refused the second time and passed out, they tried to extract me from you by force.' The phoenix finally folding it's humongous wings and came to a hovering stop in front of Evan.  
  
  
"You mean to tell me that they tried to draw you from me?" Evan asked, now completely into what the Guardian Force had to say.  
  
  
'In a way, yes. But she used some sort of foreign machine that was very powerful, but failed. The unfortunate thing is that due to your unstable mental state, you did not survive.' Even though Evan was talking to a giant bird, he could still feel a sense of trust radiating from it and the honesty scared him.  
  
  
"You mean to tell me that I am...you know...de...dead?" Evan choked out. So many things were running through his head at an immense speed. Like the fact that he never got to really tell Quistis everything he had found out about their blue magic abilities. Or how much he really loved Seifer, and the fact that he had not really been himself since he had been reunited with everyone. A single tear then found it's way down over the freckles that spotted Evan's face at the thought of how much he hurt everyone over the past few months.  
  
  
'For now you are, for there are no living souls permitted in this realm."  
  
  
"So why exactly did you bring me here? Why didn't you let me die like a normal person? Can't you just let me go and be a wandering spirit?" Evan asked, his voice now hindered by the tears that were threatening to spill over at any second. He thought about the time just recently when Ellone sent Seifer into his mind. The thought of never being in those strong arms again scaring him more than anything.   
  
  
'You have a much more important role to fulfil in life, Evan. Your life can not and will not end until that role has been filled. Not only are you the blue mage of rebirth, but you are the sleeping messanger.' explained the Guardian bird.  
  
  
"Sleeping? Don't you mean dead?" snarled Evan as he pulled his knees up to is chest and wrapped his arms around them before starting to rock back and forth.  
  
  
'No, it is not your time to go yet, Master. You are required to protect Hyne's son in the upcoming Neo-Sorceress war. I merely brought your soul into this realm to save your physical body. Once the person holding you prisoner realizes that the call of a phoenix down will not reach your soul in this realm, she might discard your body into freedom.'  
  
  
"There is only one problem." Evan said, running his hand through his short red hair, still a little startled by the thought of being dead. "Someone will have to find my body within six hours. That means Ayana too. And she normally only checked on me every four or five. If she doesn't check on me within and toss my body out in six hours there will be no chance of bringing me back."  
  
  
'For a normal mortal, you are right.'  
  
  
"Of course I am right, I spent the good part of two years researching anything and everything having to do anything with magic."  
  
'But if the soul stays near a body that is not physically damaged, there are more than 6 hours before the chance of resurrection is impossible. But that is only for those who have magical abilities other than para-magic.'   
  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Evan began to forget about being dead and started to become interested in what his Guardian force was telling him.  
  
  
"Anyone who has natural magical abilities, such as you do as a blue mage, their bodies are preserved for longer if they do actually die. They have 12 hours, as long as their Guardian captures their soul.'  
  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back this birdy up. What do you mean, captures their soul?"interrupted the red head.   
  
  
'Everyone who has a natural magic ability has a Guardian force they are destined to accompany them through battle, although most never meet their Guardian. But you are even more different. You will be able to be revived when ever your body is in safety. Due to the fact I am the Rebirth Guardian, you have 24 hours before revival is impossible.' Phoenix explained.  
  
  
"Cool! This is something that I need to tell everyone!" Evan became excited and jumped up and started to jump up and down while still floating. " So, you said that I am a messenger of some sort. What's up with that?"  
  
  
'You are to tell Hyne's son that he will soon have the army he needs to destroy the new evil force.' The phoenix said, cryptically.  
  
  
"Okay...anything else to tell the oh so great Squall?" Evan asked, a little spite in his voice. He just had a bad feeling about how Squall was acting.  
  
  
'That the list is not what it seems.' The phoenix then began to fade, the bright light finally subsiding.   
  
"Wait, where are you going? You can't leave me here alone!" Evan yelled as the gigantic bird finally faded into the horizon. The rest of the light finally left and Evan fell to the ground before passing out.  
  
  
An hour later, Evan finally regain consciousness. Groaning, he pushed on the grass to push himself up, Evan let out a shriek and fell back down.  
  
  
The phoenix was right! Evan was free!  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
People, I live! I'm sorry that I haven't written for so long, but due to the lack of response that I got over the last couple chapters and a few things that are going on at home that just made me not feel like writing. So I hope that this chapter is welcomed. I know most people don't really think that the more reviews an author gets for each chapter doesn't affect how fast an author gets chapters out, they are wrong. An author loves hearing feedback, good or bad and usually will write more to either please or spite their reveiwers. And now that school is coming to an end, and I moved out of the apartment I was living in, I have more time to write. So, please review and make me feel that it's worth writing this story.   
  
Love and Cookies, Alexandra 


	12. Chapter 12

Sorcery Illusions

Chapter 12: Strange Return

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Not really that much to warn you about in this chapter.........

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA Fantasy Dragon

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The day was starting to progress into a very warm one, and despite complaints from everyone, Squall insisted that the group must continue with practice and preparations.

"But we are all fuckin SeeDs. Don't you think that we are prepared enough?" Omri had complained at one point.

In reply to this, all that Squall had done was cast stop on the dark hared boy and walked inside.

"Do you have any idea why the rest of us were on Ayana's list?" Zell asked Quistis in a rare moment of them being alone together. He stood shadow boxing in the shade of a large tree in the yard while Quistis sat under it, watching him.

"I've thought up a million possibilities, Zell. And each one is more far fetched than the next. I hate to think about all the dangerous situations that could arise. I don't want to lose you." Quistis looked up from remoisturizing her coiled whip to her now very sweaty boyfriend.

"Angel. We were both trained and tried to handle any type of problem. We are SeeDs. You are a Guardian Mage. Whatever it is baby, you know we can handle it." Zell flopped down beside her, his famous grin plastered on his face.

Quistis sighed and looked over at him. "I just don't want to deal with the things that we went through with time compression again."

"I was there for you then, wasn't I?" To this, Quistis nodded. " And I am here for you now. Whatever happens, we'll make it through." Zell assured his girlfriend, then pulled her into a tight hug from which they were both reluctant to let go.

"Aww. How sweet." An unwelcome voice startled the two blondes.

"What do you want?" sneered Quistis, an upset glare plastered over her face as she pulled away from her boyfriend.

"Seifer sent me to fetch the chicken wuss, as he put it." Raven stood above the two, an evil smirk on her face. Raven had decided that if Quistis was going to be a bitch to her, she could be an even bigger one right back to her.

Quistis could sense Zell's blood boiling, so she grabbed the wrist of the martial artist just as he was about to jump up and punch Raven's lights out.

"She's not worth it." whispered Quistis as Zell's breaths were deep and furious.

"Seifer probably only wants to spar. If he doesn't, I do. And I am going to teach him a lesson." then, he jumped up without even saying good bye and ran over to where Seifer had been practicing all day.

"What are you gonna do now that your strong little boyfriend isn't here to protect you?" Raven grinned, leaning on the hilt of her longsword which was stuck into the ground.

"I beat you once before, and I don't plan on letting that record slip." glared the blonde as she stood up, accepting the unspoken challenge

"When you beat me last time, it was an unfair fight and you know it." snarled the brunette as she drew her longsword out in front of her and got into a fighting stance.

Quistis picked her whip up off the ground, her colbolt eyes never leaving her opponent, and with a simple flick of her wrist, her whip uncoiled it's self and made a loud crack, all in one motion.

"Yes. And if I remember correctly, the odds happened to be in your favor." Quistis said, despise staining her voice.

"But you won! You used that freak type magic on me! That was what made it unfair!" growled Raven.

"Yah. But I was unarmed, you had a magical barrier up and oh, yeah, I was hand cuffed most of the time! Really fair now, isn't it?" the blue mage asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I will win!" Raven exclaimed, as she ran towards Quistis with her sword ready to strike.

With magnificent ease, Quistis was able to evade every attack that her rival dealt towards her.

"Hold still for a fuckin second." Huffed Raven as she frantically swung her sword, determined to hit the swift blonde. Her dark eyes glowing with rage and revenge.

"Now where's the fun in that?" the blonde spoke in a very calm voice, which pissed Raven off even more and she more just swung the sword with no skill behind the blade. As if it was planned. Quistis flicked her wrist only once, sending her whip flying out.

"What in Hyne's name!?" The dark hared girl gasped at the realization of the whip that now held her longsword tightly. "Dammit." she cursed as she struggled to free the blade with no success.

"Oh, and I didn't even use any of my freak type magic as you called it." With another flick of her wrist, the sword fell to the ground with a clink. "I believe that makes it now two to nothing. With that, Quistis turned around and left the broken brunette standing there.

"You really are a cold heartless bitch, aren't you?" Glared Raven.

The blonde swiftly, glaring at the girl with the power of a thousand blizzaga spells.

"You know absolutely nothing about me. You have no right to be saying..." Quistis trailed off and her eyes began to franticly dart around. Was that feeling what she thought it was?

"The hell?" Raven asked no one in particular, looking at Quistis as if the blonde had two heads.

"It can't be." whispered the instructor as she could feel the intense presence coming closer with each passing moment. "I gotta go tell Squall." and without so much as a glare towards the dark hared girl, Quistis spun around and headed towards the house.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

"Do you have any other magic spells junctioned, Tasman?" Squall asked, as he Tasman and Pamora sat at the kitchen table in the small house. Squall had thought of a possible theory of why Ayana had the names of these people and needed to make sure that it wasn't the case..

"No. Not being on active duty, I didn't think that there was a need for me to hoard spells that others needed. Plus I have always been able to use curative magic, like I told you earlier. But I always kept a few in my dorm if I wanted to go to the training area or had to fight." Tasman explained, scared of why Squall wanted to know things like this about her.

"Okay, I want you to cast a simple Cura spell on Pamora. I want to see how powerful it is." Squall instructed. The theory was too far fetched, wasn't it? That kind of myth couldn't actually be real. But if it was, how come he hadn't noticed it before?

With no problem at all, Tasman called the cura spell and cast it on Pamora. The spell had to be one of the most powerful mid level cure spells that Pamora had ever felt.

"That was strong." whispered Pamora as she looked down at her arm. A scar that had been on her wrist since she was a teenager was now completely gone.

"Dammit. Why didn't I sense this before?" cursed Squall as he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the two girls sitting there very confused.

"Is there something wrong?" Tasman asked very timidly? "I did exactly what I was told to do."

Pamora could sense the tears arriving to the younger girls eyes, and she wrapped her arms around the small framed girl. Although they had only really met in the past couple days, there was somewhat of a connection between the two, and Pamora couldn't put her finger on exactly what that connection was.

"I don't know what goes on in Commander Leonheart's head. And frankly, I don't think we would want to." Pamora sighed, hoping to calm Tasman down a little.

Just as Pamora had finished saying this, the door to the small kitchen burst opened, revealing Quistis, looking a little out of breath.

"Where's Squall gone to?" She huffed, taking deep breaths.

"He just left. I'd watch out if you are going to look for him. He was a little PMS-ish when he left." explained Pamora as Tasman excused her self while wiping her eyes and walking in the direction of the bathroom.

"What's wrong with Tasman?" Quistis asked, taking a seat, figuring that Squall couldn't go far without her knowing.

"She's still a little stressed out by the whole GF thing. And Squall asked her to do some magic. And when she could do them without junctioning, he said dammit then left. Who knows what is going on in his head." Pamora explained.

"I don't think that was because of Tasman's power to tell you the truth.. And I hate to cut this short, but I have an idea how to straighten him out." Quistis said, then got up out of her chair and followed her sixth sense into the direction Squall had most recently gone.

She hurried up the creaky stairs and turned left into the master bedroom. Upon opening the door, all she found staring back at her were the empty cream walls and the emerald bedspread.

"Squall. It's no use trying to hide from me. You know that I can feel your presence." Quistis told the sorcerer before sticking her head out the open window and looking upwards. There sitting on the roof was a pissed off looking Squall. He was not at all impressed with Quistis' decision to join him in his solitude.

"What do you want?" He asked, wanting her to just go away. But that wasn't about to happen as she cast float on herself and floated up beside the sorcerer.

"Tasman said you freaked out pretty bad at her." Quistis said, as they looked down to the backyard to see Raven and Omri sparring, while Seifer and Zell watched.

"I was not expecting to find a person who is a holy elementalist with her own GF. Let alone them having no idea that they are the carrier of a Guardian. But then an idea hit me. But the calculations don't work out." The sorcerer was not finishing any one thought as his voice got quieter and quieter with every word. The blonde blue mage had to strain to hear him more that usual.

"Oh. So you didn't come up here for the reasons that I thought that you did." Quistis said, pulling her knees up to her chest, a slight grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"What do you mean?" Squall was generally confused by the instructors cryptic words.

"Are you implying that you never felt the forces coming from the Northeast or the south?" Quistis asked, surprised at the sorcerers reaction.

Then with the agility of a thousand assassins, Squall jumped over the peak of the roof and looked into the northeast.

"It can't be!" he whispered, and before you could say marshmallow malboros, Squall's silver wings were extended and he jumped off the roof. He was now safely on the ground and just like that, his wings were gone again. Quistis once again cast float on herself and was soon beside her sorcerer.

"Evan?" Squall whispered as he could see the tiny figure of Evan running towards them, waving like a mad man.

"Wait til you find out who is coming from the south." grinned Quistis.

Squall turned around to decipher what the blue mage had meant, but as soon as he turned and faced the right direction, the aura of the last person he wanted came flooding over the brunet lion.

"You gotta be kidding me." groaned Squall as he ran a finger over his now famous facial flaw.

"I'm going to get Seifer." Quistis smiled, then turned and ran. As she made her way through the house, she now noticed that Pamora and Tasman were now gone from the kitchen. Making her way into the back yard, she only needed to pause for a moment before making another sprint back to the tree she had been under earlier. She now stood in front of Zell and Seifer.

"Where's the fire, Angel? I know I'm hot, but I have yet to produce flames." Zell grinned, having a good chuckle over his own corny joke.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Zell." Quistis laughed a little. "Seifer. It's Evan." She was still trying to catch her breathe from her spontaneous sprint, so she wasn't sure if it had sounded how she had hoped.

"What? What happened to him? Is he alright?" the blond knight panicked, knowing all to well about the connection the two blue mages shared.

"He's here!" She smiled, then pulled the large blond off the ground, and not letting go of his arm, pulled him through the backyard, then through the house and finally to the front of the house. There Seifer could see for himself, his red-headed boyfriend running through the empty fields towards them.

0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0

I know, there really is no excuse. I've been plagued by writers block and laziness. So I am very sorry to all you readers out there. I've also been moving so I just got my computer back. I hope this chapter was worth the wait for you, and I am sorry if it's not. Well, I've already started on the next one, so please read and reveiw! Love and cookies!

.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorcery Illusions

Chapter 13: Back To Where You Belong

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Not really that much to warn you about in this chapter, just a slight hint of yoai...

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA Fantasy Dragon

Evan waved his arms franticly as he saw his house, the one he shared with Seifer drawing closer and closer to him. It was a sight that he never thought that he would see again. And he knew that the other thing that he though he would never see again would be there. The cool wind was stinging at his freckled face, but he could barely feel it. The joy of seeing everyone again was an incredible feeling that Evan never wanted to have to forget.

As he drew nearer still to the house he could see a group of people standing on the front lawn. Seifer, Quistis, Zell and Squall were there for sure, but the other people he saw he wasn't sure who they were.

"Hey!" He called out and wave harder as he was only a short distance away from the group. But then the inevitable happened to Evan.

He tripped on his own shoelaces.

Head over heals, Evan flew the rest of the way towards the house and finally landed on his face and skidded nearly 50 feet, eventually coming to rest at Squall's feet.

"Am I late?" He asked innocently, a goofy grin plastered on his face as he looked up at his sorcerer.

"Hyne, Evan. You had everyone worried shitless!" Seifer exclaimed, helping the smaller boy up and brushing the mud off his clothes like Evan was a little kid.

"Well, at least I know that none of you had constipation problems while I was gone." Evan joked, in a very Evan type way, then swatted Seifer's hand away. He then took a moment to look at who all was here waiting for him. He recognized Tasman, they were great friends, but he wasn't sure who the other two were. "So what is up with all of ya?" Evan was acting as if nothing at all had happened in the last couple days.

"Are you okay?" "Where were you?" "What did they do to you?" "How did you escape?"

A million questions hit Evan like a ton of bricks.

"Why don't we all go in the house and let Evan explain everything to us?" Squall said, making Evan note that the sorcerer had taken off his pendent, and that everyone seemed to adhere to every order he barked out.

"I want a drink. The harder the better." Evan grinned as he took Seifer's hand tightly into his own and began to walk towards the house, leaving everyone else just standing there.

"He's quite the spontaneous one, isn't he?" Pamora asked Tasman as everyone followed the blond and the red head into the house.

"Wait until he's drunk." Tasman laughed, all but forgetting what had just happened with Squall.

"So that's why you ran off after beating Raven. Isn't it, Angel?" Zell asked quietly as they followed the rest of the group to the kitchen.

"Not just Evan. I felt a force coming towards us from the south, and I needed to make sure that Squall knew about it. I just hope Evan is mentally stable. Considering what he was like before he disappeared, who knows what sort of condition he could be in right now. For all we know, he could be suicidal. This was a lot of him to handle. And we don't know exactly what happened." Quistis sighed. She was really happy that Evan was there with them now instead of in Ayana's hands. But she was really worried about what side effects this had left on Evan.

Pushing all her personal thoughts aside, Quistis knew that this was going to be the most dangerous thing that she would ever have to face. Now would be a great time to forget everything else going on around her. Everyone needed to be as devoted to this mission as humanly possible. The outcome would decide a lot of peoples futures. And not just the future of those involved with the mission directly.

Zell sighed sadly as he walked along beside his girlfriend. She had zoned out again. This had been happening more and more frequently, but Zell seemed to be the only one who noticed. Everyone else had their own problems to worry about and the martial artist knew that if Quistis was beginning to distance herself from everyone, they would attribute that to the stress of the mission and being a blue mage.

Is something wrong? Quistis' voice suddenly broke through the tattooed blonde's thoughts as they walked up to the front door.

Huh? No, sorry Angel. There are just a few things that I can't understand right now. Just about this whole mission thing and how Evan managed to escape. Plus I'm worried about you. Zell confessed, taking Quistis into his arms and holding her close to his

chest. This action caught Quistis completely off guard.

I'm going to be just fine, Zell. You don't have to worry about that. the blue mage said softly, resting her head on Zell's shoulder, holding him as tightly as he was holding her.

Come on, Angel. Let's go see how red escaped. Zell whispered as he placed a soft kiss on the top of his girlfriends head.

Quistis only nodded, reluctantly letting go as they turned and walked in to the small house hoping to make their way into the kitchen.

What they saw as they stepped in the doorway was something that neither of them would be able to forget in a very long time.

There in the entry way were Seifer and Evan, locked in a very private embrace.

Kissing in a way only meant for behind closed doors, Evan had one leg hiked up wrapped around Seifer's hip. Seifer in turn had Evan pressed against the wall, gloved hands running through the short red hair that covered his lovers head.

The hell! Zell exclaimed, startling the two lovers. Seifer almost dropped Evan as he jumped away, Evan pushing at the same time. This caused both men to fall to the ground in a heap of flailing limbs and soft cursing.

Zell! Why did you do that? It was just getting good! Quistis laughed with a grin plastered ear to ear as she playfully slapped her boyfriend on the arm.

You have all of 6.851 seconds before I come over there and beat your spiky chicken ass, you damn chicken wuss. Seifer grumbled as he tried to get up as Evan did, causing the two to hit their heads off one another, sending them back to the floor.

Evan whined, holding his head, before looking up at Quistis, who was just about doubled over in laughter. Zell just stood there, still a bit shocked at the scene that was playing out in front of him. Quisty? Why are you laughing?

This statement caused Quistis to laugh even harder, Zell just looked at them before rolling his eyes and continuing on to the kitchen.

You really need to work on your timing, Trepe. Seifer said, finally getting to his feet and helping Evan up as well.

Well, the two of you could very well have chosen a better spot to be reunited. You must have realized that Zell and I weren't with the rest of the group and would have to come this way to get to the kitchen. Quistis explained, a small laugh still playing in her voice.

But we thought you two were doing the same thing outside. That's why we thought it'd be safe here. Evan said, still whining. Man, Seif. You give so much more meaning to the phrase hard headed.Come on you two. Everyone else is waiting for you. Quistis said, finally regaining her composure and walking into the kitchen where everyone sat. The first thing that Quistis noticed was that Raven was not seated around the table where everyone else waited patiently for Evan and Seifer. Not that Quistis minded that the dark haired girl wouldn't be joining them. Who knew how Evan would react to seeing her here, especially with how he reacted back at the Garden. His mental state probably wasn't the same now as it even was back then. And that was only a couple of days ago.

Quistis just shook her head, knowing it was pointless and walked over to where Zell was sitting beside Squall, just looking at his gloved hands.

Are you okay? Quistis asked, unsure of why Zell was being so quite lately.

.was a little on the disturbing side. Zell said, letting out a deep breath.

It's not like you haven't seen them kiss before. They've been together for like 9 months. Quistis laughed.

Zell just laughed. But don't cha think that if we had been like 5 minutes longer, they would have been doing something that should have been done in a bedroom? Zell asked, his voice lowered so no one else could hear their conversation.

Quistis just laughed as Seifer and Evan walked in, hand in hand, no sign of what went on out in the entryway evident.

So are you ready to tell us what happened? Squall asked as Evan and Seifer both took their seats to begin this meeting.

There are no words to say about how long it has taken me to get this chapter out. Pretty bad to have it be almost a year. Sad really. But I finally updated. And Lioness Jordana will receive the one shot for being the 50th reviewer to Sorcery Illusions. Hopefully my next chapter will be out faster. Later days!


	14. Chapter 14

Sorcery Illusions

Chapter 14: Strategy Meetings Suck

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Not really that much to warn you about in this chapter, just a slight hint of yoai...

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA Fantasy Dragon

First off, I wanna let you know that there was a lot of shit that happened while I was there. A lot of shit. Evan said solemnly as Seifer passed him a vodka on the rocks. The redhead wasted no time in downing half the drink right away.

Like what? Tasman asked, worried that another war was on the brink here.

Well, first off, I could have sworn that I felt Seifer inside my head! I knew that I have been a little mentally unstable lately, but that was a little far out even for my imagination. Evan had a small chuckle in his voice, wondering if his statement had sounded as stupid out loud as it did in his head.

That wasn't your imagination. Ellone used her telepathic abilities to send Seifer and Quistis into the past, that past being you and Ayana. Squall explained.

Ayana? Quisty? You were in her head? questioned Evan, still a little shook up over the whole experience.

Yes. When she knocked you out. She is a very evil person. Quistis whispered, ashamed that she had been in the same person's mind that had hurt one of her best friends.

So when were you sent back? That happened late yesterday afternoon. Evan said, trying to figure out a timeline.We were sent back this morning. replied Seifer, wrapping his arm protectively around Evan's shoulder.

Okay. So after that, Ayana tried to get me to summon Phoenix. When I refused, she hooked me up to this machine. I guess it is a drawing machine. She wanted to draw Phoenix from me. I guess it was too much for my body to handle.You mean she got Phoenix! exclaimed Zell, interrupting the blue mages story. He may not have been a guardian, but he knew that if Ayana got her hands on a GF, particularly one that would enable her to revive her dead sister, it would not be a good thing.

No. It's almost like if Quisty tries to unjunction Leviathan. It just won't happen. Once we acquire our personal GF's, they permanently junction themselves to our souls. They become a part of us. Evan continued. Same with Seifer and Alexander.But Phoenix is a random summon. He only comes when everyone is dead. You don't junction him. How could she draw him from you? Pamora asked.

That's where I'm getting to. Anyhoo. After Ayana tried to draw him from me, it was too much for me to handle. I guess that I died. Evan spoke as if he was just speaking about receiving a paper cut.

How did you revive? A swarm of questions surrounded Evan, everyone wondering about Evan. Squall was the only one who did not speak up, but remained quiet. Thoughts were running through his head about how he didn't feel Evan die.

If y'all will be quite, I'll tell you. Evan laughed, happy that everyone he really cared about was here with him, and everyone had been worried about him as well. Seifer most of all.

The group, afraid that Squall would silence them all again, quieted and waited for Evan to continue.

The Phoenix saved me, and took my soul to the Guardian realm. That's where all the GF's stay when they aren't being summoned. Anyways, he kept me there until Ayana disposed of my body. Then he released my soul and I found myself outside of Timber. I could feel that Squall and Quisty were here, so I assumed that it would be a safe place to go. I was released yesterday just before sunset and ran to here all night. Evan said, squeezing Seifer's hand.

A silence fell over the room, each person taking in Evan's tale, relishing in what they had and what they could lose.

So what was the Guardian realm like? Omri asked, being the first to speak up after the silence.

Different. I didn't see any other GF's besides Phoenix. But because of everything that happened, he has junctioned himself to me like a regular GF. I have 2 different ways to summon him. The first is Healing Flame. It's sorta like Rebirth Flame, but instead of revival, it is just healing and a major fire spell. And I can do that whenever I want to. Rebirth Flame will only occur when the party is wiped out. explained the red headed blue mage.

So what else did you learn while in captivity? Squall said, speaking up for the first time after Evan's story.

Well, Phoenix told me that I am the sleeping messenger. He also told me to tell Hyne's son that you will soon have the army you need to destroy the evil new force and that the list is not what it seems. I understood the first thing, that there would be an army for you, but I have no clue about the list. Evan said, finishing the last of his drink.

The list? Do you think that it is the list with all our names on it? Seifer asked, looking over at the brunet sorcerer.

Without a doubt. I have a few speculations, but I have to think them over for a bit before I test them. We just have one more problem. Squall sighed, rubbing his finger over his scar.

One more? Hyne, this is getting out of hand. Omri grumbled, making it very clear to everyone that he very much hated being on this mission, whether it was to save the world or not.

Evan thought for a moment, and then it hit him.

We've got company coming. And I haven't been here to straighten up. the blue mage joked, letting everyone know that although he had been through a lot, he was still the fun loving guy that he always had been.

Company? Like who? Pamora asked the question that was looming on most people's minds.

There is a sorceress and her knight coming this way. The sorceress is Ellone Loire. She is the one that is able to send people into the minds of others in the past. Quistis said, looking over at Evan. Was it just her or did he seem to be the guy she knew from two years ago rather then the insane, traumatized guy that had been around the past nine months.

What is she doing coming here? You said that her knight was with her. Squall? Zell asked, talking a mile a minute.

Believe me. I had nothing to do with it. I just don't think that it is a good idea for them to be coming here. Squall mumbled. He was less than happy about the thought of Laguna and Ellone coming, because he knew that this would be more dangerous than anything else they had experienced and if Ayana was set on taking over Esthar and killing Laguna, having him here would spell out his doom in capital letters.

The next thing that we have to do is to figure out how to overcome the witch that is behind all this. Tasman said, meekly, still a little afraid of everything since she discovered that she was a host body for a GF.

But we won't go in there without a plan. Doing that wouldn't only be the end of us, but the end of the world as we know it. Ayana never really talked about her plans, except that she needs to find Raven to completely execute them. And then she would go on about how after Raven has outlived her usefulness, she will kill her the same way that she killed Crowe and take what she needed from her. Evan said, completely unaware that Raven was sitting right around the corner, listening to everything that was going on in the meeting.

The dark haired girl had not wanted Evan to freak out again like he had last time they had met, so she figured it safer to listen to the meeting from another area of the house. So she sat there on the stairs, listening to everything that Evan was saying, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Thank you to everyone who is still reading this! I'm so sorry that the last update took so long, but I think that I am on a roll right now. I have a lot of this story mapped out in my head as of right now. It's like someone used a phoenix down on my muse over the last couple days and I can't stop writing! Once again, congrads to Lioness Jordana for being the 50th reviewer. I am working on your one shot. You've given me a difficult pairing, but I am hoping that this will meet your expectations. Look for that story soon! I be out until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

Sorcery Illusions

Chapter 15: Reunions and Romance

Disclaimer:

I do not own the game or the characters, they are not mine to do with as I wish.

Warning:

Not really that much to warn you about in this chapter, just a slight hint of yoai...And just remember whatever you may read, it is part of the story.

Enjoy!

Alexandra AKA Fantasy Dragon

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Julio Rodriguez walked into the bedroom where he knew the love of his life would be waiting, and hopefully she was in the same romantic mood as he was. To see his beautiful angel in all her angelic beauty would be a perfect ending to the perfect day.

"Angelina? My love, are you in there?" Julio called out in his rich Spanish accent. Tucking a stray lock of his lush blond locks behind his ear, the tanned man pushed open the door to the bedroom, where he knew his lover would be. As he opened the door, the faint light of candle light washed over his face before his azure eyes fell upon the most beautiful sight in the world.

There laying on the creamy silk sheets of the bed was his lovely Angelina, in all her lovely nakedness, with a single red sheet strategically placed over all her most intimate places.

"Oh, Julio! I've been waiting for you all night! I want you and to come and fill me with everything that I desire!" Angelina cried seductively, throwing the red cloth off her to reveal her body to the man she loved the most.

Evan sighed as he pulled the smutty romance novel close to his chest, being very careful not to lose his place. Letting out another deep sigh, Evan closed his eyes and allowed a content smile to form across his pale features.

"Oh, Julio. Why couldn't you be here, and gay?" Evan said, the smile not leaving his face. Pulling the book away from his chest, the redhead looked closely at the cover in the dimly lit room. A handsome blond man, buff and shirtless holding a dark haired goddess close to him. "That's it. I have to convince Seifer to grow his hair out, start tanning and develop a thick accent." He determined, not hearing the sound of another person coming into the living room where he lay on the couch.

"I'm not so sure that someone can spontaneously develop a thick accent." the voice laughed, causing Evan to fall off the couch, and in turn making him lose his page.

"Just great. Now you made me go and lose my page. And it was just getting into the steamy sex scene. I'm gonna have to go looking for all of 5 minutes to get back to that particular scene of smutty goodness." Evan pouted, picking himself, then his book up.

"And I am so sure that you were completely turned on by the thought of a guy and a girl going at it." she laughed even harder and took a seat in the large lazy boy that sat across from the coach.

"I admit. I wouldn't mind if that Angelina chick had a penis. But at the same time. I don't read ones unless they have anal in them." Evan had a smirk plastered over his freckled face as he looked over to his companion.

"I seriously thought that you were going to completely freak out when you saw me." Raven whispered, loud enough for only Evan to be able to hear her. This was the first time that they would be sitting down and talking since they had been roommates all those months ago.

"I don't know much anymore. I have no clue about most things. Being in that smelly place for the past couple days really gave me time to think about my life. The little things that I have been neglecting or taking for granted over the last nine months. Like Seifer. I don't know why he stayed with me. I wouldn't have." Evan said, in a more serious tone then Raven had ever heard the SeeD speak in.

"Believe it or not. He and Squall have been the two people that have been the nicest to me since I showed up. And you've been a topic that Seifer and I talk about a lot. I think that it really helped he cope with you being gone." Showing her nervousness to being around her former house mate, Raven started to play with a few strands of her loose waist length hair.

"Squall? Being nice? Are we talking about the same heartless high commander slash uber sorcerer of doom? As in complete asshole 99.564821 of the time? And just plain cold the rest of the time? That Squall?" Evan asked, being a little over dramatic, completely breaking the serious mood.

Raven couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that Squall. I don't know. But he's actually been really nice to me. He reinstated my SeeDship before we left. Only rank 10, rather than the 27 I was before I left, but it's a start to my new life." The dark haired girl sighed, a little relieved but at the same time was apprehensive about the whole starting over thing.

"So are you going to be staying in Balamb after all this? Are you going to be easily accessible to tease about everything after this is all over?" Evan continued his interrogation.

"How can you act like nothing happened? Everything that I did? Why have you just forgotten about all that? When a few days ago you went into a complete mental breakdown when you saw me? And the compassion you showed for me earlier today? Evan. I know that I can't be the easiest person in the world for you to forgive, but its just too much if you act like none of that ever happened. Because it did. And Falcon and Crowe are both dead because of that." Raven started to break down, letting a lot of the pent up anger and frustration that she had been feeling for most of the mission out in the single expression of emotion.

The red head sighed a deep sigh and placed the romance novel onto the table beside the coach. "Rave, I told you. I thought about my life a lot over the past few days. I've been taking way too many things for granted since everything happened. I couldn't grasp everything that had happened. I wasn't ready to accept the things that I knew had happened. I wanted to make my own utopian reality. And when something happened inside my bubble world that wasn't normal, I didn't know how to react. When that would happen, my brain just went on auto pilot. I couldn't help it. So when my whole world came crashing down with nothing familiar, I thought. More than I have in my entire life combined probably. And one thing that I took for granted was our friendship. We were great friends. I wanna go back to the time of the nibbying iky iky ya ya's." Evan looked up at his former friend, who now had silent tears running down her face.

"You sound like you've been practising that one for a while." smiled Raven, laughing through her tears.

"I have. The better part of at least 10 hours when I was in that cell. Did it sound like I rushed it to you?" Evan asked, causing Raven to laugh even harder.

"No. Good speed." She was able to get out amongst the laughs. "I think that this friendship is getting off to a great second start."

"Good." Evan smiled his dorky smile then picked his book up again. "Tell me something. Do you think that this guy looks like Seifer?"

Raven couldn't help but laugh even more. Wiping a stray tear off her cheek she looked down, afraid to see what Evan was showing her. "Holy shit. It does look like him. Geez, Ev. You have to do a background check on that boyfriend of yours. Because if he did more topless model shoots I would love a copy or two."

"Hey. Mine. Hands off." Evan spoke in the tone of a six year old, clutching the book to his chest once again, as if it was his most prized possession in the world.

"I missed this." admitted Raven, and Evan nodded in agreement as he laughed. "If only I could get the rest of your friends to warm up to me a little more."

"Why? Do you have a problem with someone?" Evan questioned, completely oblivious to what was going on between Raven and Quistis.

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Whoohoo! Another chappy up and ready to roll! I've got the next one started too. That's gonna be a change. Also, Lioness Jordana, don't give up hope on me. I have started your story and unfortunatly (or fortunatly) my muse has taken off with me and it is coming along good. I hope you like it. It should be done soon! Love and Cookies! Don't forget to review!


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